One of the most time consuming lessons to learn is, “There is always the other side to the story.”

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard only one side of the story to jump on the bandwagon until I’ve heard the other side and knew that I made a mistake. Now, I hold my judgment until I hear the other side before I side with one or the other.

But this is also true when it comes to a biblical text. We must use the scripture to interpret scripture in that we cannot lean so far into the implications of a particular passage without considering other passages that balance it out.

For example, Paul is all about grace. He leans heavily on the side of grace that if we are not careful, we may think that it wouldn’t matter how we lived our lives as long as we remember that God loves us (That’s not what Paul actually says but we can think he did).

But James balances him out in saying, “Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.” 

It’s almost as if James is saying, “Yes, it is important to have our heart transformed by the gospel, but the way that gospel shows itself to be true is by our action!” And what kind of action? Helping the poor and keeping ourselves pure.

Who’s right? Both are right. They are both in the Scriptures.

Be in the scriptures this year. Know it well enough to have a balanced view of all things.

PH