James 1:27 - Look after orphans and widows in their distress

Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.

Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.

Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.

James 1:27

Commentary

Orphans and widows were the poor and powerless in 1st Century Israel. Land and opportunities were based upon lineage, so to not have a husband or father was to have no future. James is challenging the Christians of his day to not merit their spirituality upon how well they could recite doctrine, but how well they lived it. Thankfully, the early Church understood this. When the ancient world threw out the orphans and widows, Christianity offered them a unique haven. This was noticed by Greeks and Romans alike and caused Christianity to spread around the world. One must ask, would our actions today match up to theirs?

Today's commentary by:
Dave Whitehead, Senior Pastor, Grace NYC