Polluted by the World

 Hi y’all! My name is Taylor and a blog over at Live and Move. My blog is for the girl who isn’t sure where she’s going but knows she wants to enjoy getting there. I post a little of everything: photography, fashion, DIYs, and my own musings. I’d love if you gave it a look!

When Caroline asked me to guest blog, I wasn’t sure what to share! Then, I thought that the best route was to share a little bit of what God placed on my heart this week.

If you’re a Christian, there are those verses that you know to the point that either 1) they lose all meaning or 2) you feel like the meaning is set in stone and you can move on. That’s how I felt
about James 1:27 until this week, “Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is
this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted
by the world.” This verse is used by a lot of nonprofits. They often leave off the second part of
the verse. I kind of forgot it existed.

I’m doing a book study with a friend this summer and it mentioned this verse. The second part
really impacted us. “And to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.” For us at least,
allowing ourselves to be polluted by the world lessened our ability to look after orphans and
widows. The world is all about growing, climbing, being known at a major level. Helping the
least of these doesn’t often fit in with those worldly goals.

Sometimes I get frustrated with myself for not doing more for the kingdom. Now, instead of signing up for something new right away, I’m going to be introspective and “de-pollute.” I’ll ask myself (and God) what’s important to me at the moment and to change my heart if necessary. Social justice and caring for the least of these will be inevitable when I begin, once again, to value the right things.

Have you heard this verse before? I’m curious to know if you, too, overlooked the second part. I’d love to hear your thoughts!