¹²So speak and so act as those who are to be judged by the law of liberty. ¹³For judgment will be merciless to one who has shown no mercy; mercy triumphs over judgment.

Keeping the law of love is not just a feeling, a spiritual warm glow. Nor is it just a theological concept or an oratorical proclamation of love. Love is action or it is nothing. Certainly, there is a place for exalting the notion in poetry and song. The musical world is full of sonnets, ballads, and hymns to love of all sorts. Much has to do with the fickle experience of romantic love. But we miss Paul’s point if we limit his love poem in 1 Corinthians 13 to festive pronouncements in marriage ceremonies. Postulating about love’s greatness is not the same as actually loving; love takes action in tangible ways. The book of James will carry this theme to its end.

Our words must be conditioned by love, with the best interests of others in mind. We will guard our tongues, avoid hurtful outbursts. We will act in ways that are actually loving and not hide behind empty words. This does not mean we are always soft and tender, but it does mean we speak the truth. And we do it with a genuine interest in the other person’s wellbeing; we don’t use our words as weapons to intentionally hurt or destroy others or simply to win arguments. We conscientiously and purposely see the things we say as a ministry to build up people around us.

We also calculate and design our actions to love. This may seem cold and sterile, but we must train ourselves in this matter, for it doesn’t come easily. We are creatures of self-centeredness; that is the nature of sin. While the gospel sets us free from the eternal judgment for our sin, we must keep in step with God’s desire to eradicate the self-centeredness that fuels sin in our lives.

So James invites us to order our motivation by how we will be judged, not by the law of Moses but by the law of liberty. Love frees us up from the worry of the law, that hugely inferior motivation that always fails. Instead our motivation is one of mercy. We find it easy to love those who are easy to love because it requires no mercy. But loving those we assume (in our twisted thinking) are unworthy of our love requires mercy—precisely because we think they don’t deserve our love. Yet God shows us mercy by loving us when we didn’t and still don’t deserve it. This is the kind of love we should show toward the poor and not give preferential treatment to the wealthy. To do otherwise is to spurn the mercy God has shown to us.

Lord, I commit to resisting the hypocrisy of enjoying the benefits of Your merciful love and at the same time rejecting loving others as You have loved me.