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My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, because human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires. Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you. Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it\u2014not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it\u2014they will be blessed in what they do. (James 1:19-25)

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How are the de-formed desires of our flesh re-formed in the ways of Christ?\xa0 James has some thoughts.\xa0

When talking about the righteousness God desires, James seems to say: if we don\u2019t have the capacity to listen to the person sitting in front of us, if our words sometimes fly out unchecked, or if our temper controls us more often than we control it\u2014if that\u2019s how our day to day life looks in relationship to others\u2014then how can it be any different in our relationship with God (and vice versa)?\xa0

Our daily life and our spiritual life have a lot in common, and so practicing things like listening more and speaking less in our relationship with God helps us do the same in our relationship with others and vice versa.\xa0 That\u2019s because the practice slowly forms our desire to really listen and hear well in all of life.\xa0

As it is with any human endeavor, beginner\u2019s luck and raw talent only get you so far.\xa0 Most of us play like we practice, and practice is hard work!\xa0 There\u2019s not a professional athlete out there who hasn\u2019t done thousands of times already what you\u2019ll see them do on the court, field, or rink in competition.\xa0 That\u2019s why they\u2019re good at it.\xa0

Habitual repetition is how muscles learn their movements: it\u2019s also how our heart, mind, and soul learn theirs.\xa0 Repetition of the actions of loving another person, like confessing, forgiving, and reconciling with that person is the way of training ourselves not only how to love someone, but it also trains our desires to want to love someone in just that open, honest, reconciling way.\xa0

When it comes to training our desires, you really do have to fake it \u2018til you make it.\xa0 Which is what that habitual repetition of practicing something is all about.\xa0 That\u2019s why God commands it\u2014so that we do practice these things and get them into our bones.\xa0\xa0

It\u2019s only those who know the rules of the game, the boundaries of the field, and who have disciplined themselves in the fundamentals who are free to play and enjoy it to its absolute fullest.\xa0 That\u2019s true whether you\u2019re talking about athletes, tradespeople, jazz musicians, or Christians. \xa0

So look into God\u2019s perfect law that gives you this freedom and continue in it.\xa0 Don\u2019t forget what you\u2019ve seen and what you\u2019ve heard there\u2014but do it.\xa0 Practice it with your friends.\xa0 Practice it with your families. \xa0Practice it with your God.\xa0 You\u2019ll be blessed if you do.\xa0 Indeed, you might eventually even find yourself wanting, or desiring, to do these things.

Of course, all of this comes through the work of the Spirit who sanctifies us and empowers us to practice what God calls and commands us to.\xa0 He slowly conforms us, our lives, and our desires to the likeness of Christ and forms fruit within us: like gentleness, love, and self control.\xa0

That\u2019s what it\u2019s about\u2014becoming, through the power of the Spirit at work within us, more and more from our desires up, who we already are in Christ.\xa0

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