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James 1:2-6 "My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into carious trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have it's perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing. If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him. But let him ask in faith with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind."
>>>This verse has always been hopeful to me... but also confusing. It says to count it all joy when in trials. Huh? When I'm in a trial, I usually just go into survival mode and don't really think about being joyful. Looking for joy in trials is so much harder. But then, it goes on to say that when our faith is tested (during the trials we face), that patience can grow in us. Patience is a virtue. In other words, trials can refine us. And make us better people on the other side. I like it when it says that we can ask God for wisdom. That He gives to us liberally (in generous amounts) and without reproach (disappointment). So, if we come to Him and ask for wisdom, He will give it to us freely. But-- there's a slight catch. We must ask with childlike faith. Because if we doubt that He can, then we don't really have trust in Him.
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James 1:17,19,20 "Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation of shadow of turning.... So then, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath; for the wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God."
>>>Ah, I love this verse! God gives us gifts. And He is never changing! Then, in the next verses, it says how we should be swift to hear. (Meaning we should listen and regard those around us.) Slow to speak. (Meaning we should think about what we are going to say so that we don't say something we will regret.) And slow to wrath. (Slow to anger.)
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James 1:22-27"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 observing his natural face in a mirror; for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was. But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be. blessed in what he does. If anyone among you things he is religious, and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this one's religion is useless. Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world.
>>>Being a doer of the Bible means that you've heard it, but it doesn't stop there. You go out and apply the Bible's teachings into your every day life. God wants us to walk the walk, not talk the talk with no action of faith. It's interesting that this verse mentioned a mirror. I thought it was a pretty good analogy. Then, it talked about deceiving your heart. Maybe we tell ourselves things for so long but never fully live them. Or maybe we believe lies that we tell ourselves.
In the last part of these verses, it talks about pure and undefiled religion. And along with the acts of kindness mentioned, I think the verses from above paved the way for this definition. Pure religion is finding joy in trials, practicing patience, believing God's promises that are never changing, acting on that belief, listening to those around us (selflessness), slow to speak, slow to anger, and kind to those around us, unspotted from the world.
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What is your favorite verse in James chapter one?
Do you have a favorite take away from the verses I've mentioned?
What do you think is a virtue of those with pure and undefiled religion?
Comment below!
Many Blessings,
Brooklyne Elysse
