More than ourselves

So ever since last Wed. night my brain has been running !!  Every wed. night my band, our wives/girlfriends, and the youth pastor at our church and his wife meet for "Life group."  We've been doing a study on the book of James.  In James 2:14 it says "My brothers and sisters, if people say they have faith, but do nothing, their faith is worth nothing.  Can faith like that save them?"  There's a lot more after that verse, but that's where I want to stop for now.  Jason (The youth pastor of our church) asked us a question that really made me think. He asked us if people have faith, but do nothing to demonstrate it, are they saved?  Well, he didn't even have to ask us because the bible asks us pretty clearly, and i didn't even see it.  Now, I'm not going to say that people who believe in Christ and have confessed that He is Lord are not one of his children.  I guess it makes you think that if they truly do have a faith in Christ and a love for Him, that you'd see a product of that according to this verse.  So then....I thought, well....am I showing this faith?  I'm surrounded by a BUNCH of people who are great at giving. My wife is one of them!  Personally, I'm horrible at it!  I think the thought of giving is awesome!  But when it comes down to it, I'm very selfish, and when I do give, usually it's because I get some kind of pleasure out of it.  When we give it shouldn't be to get a good feeling for ourselves, it should be a product of your faith and obedience.  Jason also told a story of how God convicted him to give in obedience.  When a homeless man asks for money, is it our responsibility what he does with it if God tells you to give it to him?  Someone in life group pointed out how we as Christians tend to just throw money at needs instead of helping the situation ourselves simply because we don't want to deal with it.  I also thought that maybe if Christians were to tithe biblically we wouldn't have the financial crisis that we're in, because we could be helping others in need in stead of worrying about our 4 walls.  I'm not writing to step on toes, just to trigger your thought process.  I want God to change my heart to see people the way He sees them.