Be Ye Doers of the Word
Before we point out the gap in others, let’s have the courage to close the one in ourselves.
Soul Force Sundays
There’s a fine line between believing in truth and being transformed by it.
James didn’t mince words when he wrote:
“Be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.”
It’s a piercing reminder: we can know all the right principles, listen to all the right messages, even surround ourselves with goodness—
and still live unchanged.
In Heroic terms, it’s the difference between being a librarian and being a warrior.
The librarian studies the manuals of virtue, organizes the wisdom, quotes the teachings.
The warrior steps onto the field and lives them—under pressure, under fire, when it’s messy and inconvenient.
One collects truth.
The other embodies it.
And if we’re honest, most of us have a little too much librarian in us.
We nod through sermons, podcasts, or scriptures meant to awaken us—but the transformation stops at the knowing.
We mistake familiarity for mastery.
The Mirror, Not the Microscope
President Russell M. Nelson put it perfectly when he said that some of us listen to counsel thinking, “Oh, I know exactly who needs to hear this.”
But his invitation was clear: look within first.
Before we point out the gap in others, let’s have the courage to close the one in ourselves.
Because it’s far easier to diagnose someone else’s weaknesses than to face our own.
It takes humility—and spiritual maturity—to let truth pierce the heart rather than simply pass through the ears.
But that’s where real change begins: when the message becomes personal.
What Lack I Yet?
There’s a question in Matthew 19 that feels almost too vulnerable to ask:
“What lack I yet?”
It’s the question of a soul willing to see itself clearly.
Not a question of guilt, but of growth.
Not shame, but surrender.
Because asking it sincerely means opening ourselves to the refiner’s fire—
inviting God to chisel away what’s rough, selfish, or afraid,
and trusting that what remains will be more whole, more radiant, more real.
Growth is never comfortable, but it’s always holy.
That’s how we become the kind of people Heaven can trust with greater purpose.
Becoming Warriors of the Mind and Soul
If we truly want to be instruments in the Lord’s hands, it’s not enough to know His word—we have to move with it.
We have to do the inconvenient things:
to forgive first, to listen longer, to choose kindness when judgment feels easier.
We have to discipline our minds when fear, resentment, or apathy whisper their lies.
We have to show up when no one’s watching and live aligned with what we say we believe.
That’s what it means to be a warrior of the mind and soul.
Not perfection. Not pretense. But practice—daily, deliberate, imperfect practice.
In Heroic language, it’s closing the gap between who we’re capable of being and who we’re actually being.
In spiritual language, it’s discipleship.
The Call to Action
Maybe this week, instead of thinking about who else “needs to hear” a message—
we can let the Spirit turn that question inward.
Ask yourself:
Where am I still just a librarian—collecting wisdom, but not wielding it?
What lack I yet?
What one thing could I do today to become the warrior God knows I can be?
Because the world doesn’t need more people who know the light.
It needs more people who carry it.
