Scripture
Greetings from James
1This letter is from James, a slave of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ.
I am writing to the “twelve tribes”—Jewish believers scattered abroad.
Greetings!
Faith and Endurance
2Dear brothers and sisters,[1] when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. 3For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. 4So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing.
5If you need wisdom, ask our generous God, and he will give it to you. He will not rebuke you for asking. 6But when you ask him, be sure that your faith is in God alone. Do not waver, for a person with divided loyalty is as unsettled as a wave of the sea that is blown and tossed by the wind. 7Such people should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. 8Their loyalty is divided between God and the world, and they are unstable in everything they do.
9Believers who are[2] poor have something to boast about, for God has honored them. 10And those who are rich should boast that God has humbled them. They will fade away like a little flower in the field. 11The hot sun rises and the grass withers; the little flower droops and falls, and its beauty fades away. In the same way, the rich will fade away with all of their achievements.
12God blesses those who patiently endure testing and temptation. Afterward they will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him. 13And remember, when you are being tempted, do not say, “God is tempting me.” God is never tempted to do wrong,[3] and he never tempts anyone else. 14Temptation comes from our own desires, which entice us and drag us away. 15These desires give birth to sinful actions. And when sin is allowed to grow, it gives birth to death.
16So don’t be misled, my dear brothers and sisters. 17Whatever is good and perfect is a gift coming down to us from God our Father, who created all the lights in the heavens.[4] He never changes or casts a shifting shadow.[5] 18He chose to give birth to us by giving us his true word. And we, out of all creation, became his prized possession.[6]
Listening and Doing
19Understand this, my dear brothers and sisters: You must all be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to get angry. 20Human anger[7] does not produce the righteousness[8] God desires. 21So get rid of all the filth and evil in your lives, and humbly accept the word God has planted in your hearts, for it has the power to save your souls.
22But don’t just listen to God’s word. You must do what it says. Otherwise, you are only fooling yourselves. 23For if you listen to the word and don’t obey, it is like glancing at your face in a mirror. 24You see yourself, walk away, and forget what you look like. 25But if you look carefully into the perfect law that sets you free, and if you do what it says and don’t forget what you heard, then God will bless you for doing it.
26If you claim to be religious but don’t control your tongue, you are fooling yourself, and your religion is worthless. 27Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for orphans and widows in their distress and refusing to let the world corrupt you.
Translation notes (8)
- 1:2 Greek brothers; also in 1:16, 19.
- 1:9 Greek The brother who is.
- 1:13 Or God should not be put to a test by evil people.
- 1:17a Greek from above, from the Father of lights.
- 1:17b Some manuscripts read He never changes, as a shifting shadow does.
- 1:18 Greek we became a kind of firstfruit of his creatures.
- 1:20a Greek A man’s anger.
- 1:20b Or the justice.
14Temptation comes from our own desires, which entice us and drag us away. 15These desires give birth to sinful actions. And when sin is allowed to grow, it gives birth to death.
Spoiling my niece and nephew is one of my favorite things to do. As any good aunt would do, I occasionally take them a special treat to have as dessert later in the day. The first few times I did this for them, I quickly learned that I could not show them or talk about the treat I had for them. The temptation is way too great. They will beg, plead, and even try to sneak the dessert if they know about it. Truthfully, temptation is everywhere. It constantly surrounds us, and we have to be prepared for it when it comes.
James teaches us to be prepared for temptation in James 1. “Remember, when you are being tempted,” he writes, “do not say, ‘God is tempting me.’ God is never tempted to do wrong, and he never tempts anyone” (verse 13). In case anyone becomes confused when considering temptation, James makes it clear that God does not tempt anyone. All temptation, James teaches us, comes as a result of “our own evil desires, which entice us and drag us away” (verse 14). These desires give birth, he explains, to sin, and that sin “gives birth to death” (verse 15). In other words, sin destroys us. This is what happens when we give in to temptation. It takes us exactly where we do not want to go, all the way to destruction and death.
My friend, giving in to any temptation in our lives takes us right where we don’t want to be, ultimately destroying us. We are not exempt from this passage in James. Therefore, when we say we do not struggle with a temptation to sin, we are only deceiving ourselves. Additionally, we will not be prepared to fight against temptation when it comes. When we do acknowledge our temptations, however, we can better prepare for temptation when it comes. And we must fight against this temptation because it will always take us where we do not want to go.
Moving toward action
What is a temptation that you often face? Maybe you know you have a short temper and often find yourself losing that temper in front of other people and lashing out in anger. Maybe your relationship with your boyfriend or girlfriend has begun to cross boundaries you never intended. Maybe you know you tend to gossip. Maybe your temptation is resisting all the chips or chocolate in your house. Whatever it is, acknowledge it today. When you know that you have a weakness in that area, you can be better prepared to fight against it. After acknowledging the area, ask yourself what the wise thing to do to help you fight would be (for example, do not buy the chips that you simply cannot resist). Then, ask God for help in that area, and ask a trusted friend to help you take the wise step to fight against that temptation.
Going Deeper
James 1:1-27 (NLT)
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