Getting involved in ministry, both within the Body and among non-believers, will assist you in becoming a doer rather than a mere hearer of the Word, as James 1:22 encourages. It will help you apply Bible knowledge to everyday life and translate that knowledge into character development.

James 1:22 But be doers of the Word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. 23 For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in the mirror; 24 for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was. 25 But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the word, this one will be blessed in what he does.

Salvation leads to service. It is self-deception to believe that God’s goal for church attendance is merely hearing the Word, instead of experiencing a transformation of life that results in ministry. The one who merely hears the Word quickly forgets it, only the one who acts on the word and continues in it is blessed. God’s word is the perfect law of liberty. It does not enslave us to the bondage of legalism but rather frees us to keep its percepts by an inward compulsion.

God’s Word is a purifier unto Holy Livings. The purity of life is not a quest for perfection as much as it is a quest for liberation from those things that may inhibit effectiveness and reduce power-filled living. This text shows the Word of God as a s means of reflection – a mirror into which we are to look and see ourselves. This call is not only to heed what we see and accept the Bible’s corrective instructions but there is an unwritten lesson here. We should avoid the temptation to see others in the Word, analyzing what they ought to do, instead of what we need to do. 2 Cor 3:18 also likens God’s Word to a mirror, but describes the image seen as no less than the Lord Jesus Himself. The sum of the two texts:1) The Bible shows us Christ’s likeness so that 2) we may measure our conduct and character against His and allow God to shape us into Christ’s likeness (Rom 8:20). Other promises for cleansing through God’s Word: Jer 29:9 speak of the “Fire” in the Word, which can purge as well as ignite, and PS. 119:9 holds a special promise to the one who wants a pure life of holy power. God’s Word is a powerful, cleansing, delivering agent.