Stagione 2
Faith That Works
Be Merciful
Don't Be Partial
Pure Religion
Just Do it
Quick To Hear Slow To Speak
Watch Out For Temptation
Riches In Perspective
Wisdom Is Available
Real faith, is believing what God says in His Word and living like you do. That’s the kind of faith that will save you.
Do you love your neighbour in the same way that you love yourself? That, says James, is the real test. That will reveal whether or not your religion is pure and undefiled: whether or not your Christian profession is real.
Do you show partiality? Be careful how you answer. It's another test of the genuineness of your faith
Are you a genuine Christian? Do you guard your tongue? Do you care for the needy? Do you keep yourself clean from the world's influence? Doing those things won't save you, but if you're the real deal they will be among the things you do.
We’ve deceived ourselves into thinking that progress in the Christian life has to be a slow painful process. That’s why so many believers make so little progress in godliness over their lifetime, and it’s why we have so few godly people these days.
You want to be a strong and mature Christian? Then take care to listen both to God and to other people. Listen with humility and respect. Be slow to form opinions. Avoid angry disputes. Have more confidence in the Word of God to change people.
When you face trials, you’re going to be tempted and when you're tempted you need to understand what’s going on. So James explains the nature of temptation, how it works and where it can lead, and his explanation will help you to overcome it.
Christian values are different. Other people try to convince us that the way they see things is right and sometimes, if you’re honest, what they say seems to make sense and you wonder if you’re the one who’s got it wrong. You can get confused. James can help with that.
You need wisdom? James says, No problem. “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives to all freely and without reproach, and it will be given to him.” Ask God. He gives freely. He won’t throw it back at you. He won’t ever say, “You got yourself into this mess!” or anything like that. He’ll give you all the wisdom you need
We're not told which James wrote the letter but I like to think it was Jesus' younger brother. I like to think that the things he teaches in it were learned as they were growing up together. Whether that's true or not, this is how Jesus lived and it's how He wants you to live.James begins by telling us how to benefit from the trials that come our way. "Count it all joy," he says.