But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing.
-- James 1:22-25 (ESV)
John Chrysostom, Homilies on the Gospel of Matthew:
To hear the word of God and not to do it is the greatest of all sins. For it is not enough to know what is right; the knowledge itself becomes a witness against us when we do not act upon it. The demons believe and tremble -- but they do not obey.
A.W. Tozer, The Pursuit of God:
The man who has God for his treasure has all things in One. Many ordinary Christians may be startled to learn that mere believing is not enough. The devil believes, and he trembles. What God asks of us is that we should surrender our whole being to Him -- intellect, will, affections -- and then act upon what we know to be true.
Augustine of Hippo, Confessions:
Late have I loved you, beauty so old and so new: late have I loved you. And see, you were within and I was without, and there I sought you. And, deformed as I was, I ran after those beautiful things which you have made. You were with me, and I was not with you. Those things kept me far from you, which, unless they were in you, would not exist. You called, and shouted, and burst my deafness. You flashed, shone, and scattered my blindness. You breathed odors, and I drew in breath and pant for you. I tasted, and hunger and thirst. You touched me, and I burned for your peace.
The pattern Augustine names is the pattern James warns against: God is near, the truth is plain, and we turn away to chase what cannot satisfy. The gap between knowing and doing is where the soul corrodes.
Thomas à Kempis, The Imitation of Christ:
Do not think that you have made any progress unless you feel yourself to be inferior to all. He who wishes to learn truly and perfectly must consider it no hardship to be subject and obedient to others, and to be regarded as of no account. He who has learned to be obedient and to keep silence will easily be able to speak, not of himself, but of God, at the proper time.
What truth have you heard -- and known to be true -- that you have not yet done?
Epictetus, Discourses:
Don't explain your philosophy. Embody it. It is not the things that disturb us, but our judgments about them. But what good is the judgment if you do not act on it? A man who knows what is right and does otherwise is worse off than one who never knew.
St. Clair, MI: -- Showers and thunderstorms likely, mainly between 11am and 4pm. Mostly cloudy. High near 78°F, temperatures falling to the mid-70s in the afternoon. Northeast wind 1-8 mph. Chance of precipitation 70%. Rainfall between a tenth and quarter inch possible. Overnight, chance of showers and thunderstorms, low around 62°F.