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Testing Your Faith

^1 (F1)(C1)James, a ^(C2)bond-servant of God and ^(C3)of the Lord Jesus Christ, To ^(C4)the twelve Hebrew tribes ^(C5)scattered abroad among the Gentiles in the dispersion: ^(C6)Greetings (rejoice)!

^2 (C1)Consider it nothing but joy, my ^(F1)brothers and sisters, whenever you fall into ^(C2)various trials.³ Be assured that ^(C1)the testing of your ^(C2)faith through experience produces ^(C3)endurance leading to spiritual maturity, and inner peace.⁴ And let ^(C1)endurance have its perfect result and do a thorough work, so that you may be ^(C2)perfect and completely developed in your faith, lacking in nothing.

⁵ If any of you ^(C1)lacks wisdom to guide him through a decision or circumstance, he is to ask of our benevolent God, who gives to everyone generously and without rebuke or blame, and ^(C2)it will be given to him.⁶ But he must ^(C1)ask for wisdom in faith, ^(C2)without doubting God's willingness to help, for the one who doubts is like a billowing surge of the sea that is ^(C3)blown about and tossed by the wind.⁷ For such a person ought not to think or expect that he will receive anything at all from the Lord,⁸ being a ^(C1)double-minded man, ^(C2)unstable and restless in all his ways in everything he thinks, feels, or decides.

^9 (C1)Let the brother in humble circumstances glory in his high position as a born-again believer, called to the true riches and to be an heir of God;¹⁰ and the rich man is to glory in being humbled by trials revealing human frailty, knowing true riches are found in the grace of God, for ^(C1)like the flower of the grass he will pass away.¹¹ For the sun rises with ^(C1)a scorching wind and ^(C2)withers the grass; its flower falls off and ^(F1)its beauty fades away; so too will the rich man, in the midst of his pursuits, fade away. ^(VR1)

^12 (C1)Blessed happy, spiritually prosperous, favored by God is the man who is steadfast under trial and perseveres when tempted; for when he has passed the test and been approved, he will receive ^(C2)the victor's crown of life which the Lord ^(C3)has promised to those who ^(C4)love Him.¹³ Let no one say when he is tempted, "^(C1)I am being tempted by God" for temptation does not originate from God, but from our own flaws; for God cannot be tempted by what is evil, and He Himself tempts no one.¹⁴ But each one is tempted when he is dragged away, enticed and baited to commit sin by his own worldly desire (lust, passion).¹⁵ Then ^(C1)when the illicit desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and when ^(C2)sin has run its course, it gives birth to death.^16 (C1)Do not be misled, ^(C2)my beloved brothers and sisters.¹⁷ Every good thing given and every perfect gift is ^(C1)from above; it comes down from ^(C2)the Father of lights the Creator and Sustainer of the heavens, ^(C3)in whom there is no variation no rising or setting or shadow ^(F1)cast by His turning for He is perfect and never changes.¹⁸ It was of ^(C1)His own will that He ^(C2)gave us birth as His children by ^(C3)the word of truth, so that we would be a kind of ^(C4)first fruits of His creatures a prime example of what He created to be set apart to Himself—sanctified, made holy for His divine purposes.

^19 (C1)Understand this, ^(C2)my beloved brothers and sisters. Let everyone be quick to hear be a careful, thoughtful listener, ^(C3)slow to speak a speaker of carefully chosen words and, ^(C4)slow to anger patient, reflective, forgiving;²⁰ for ^(C1)the resentful, deep-seated anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God that standard of behavior which He requires from us.²¹ So ^(C1)get rid of all uncleanness and ^(F1)all that remains of wickedness, and with a humble spirit receive ^(C2)the word of God which is implanted actually rooted in your heart, which is able to save your souls.^22 (C1)But prove yourselves doers of the word actively and continually obeying God's precepts, and not merely listeners who hear the word but fail to internalize its meaning, deluding yourselves by unsound reasoning contrary to the truth.²³ For if anyone only listens to the word ^(F1)without obeying it, he is like a man who looks very carefully at his natural face ^(C1)in a mirror;²⁴ for once he has looked at himself and gone away, he immediately forgets ^(F1)what he looked like.²⁵ But he who looks carefully into the perfect law, ^(C1)the law of liberty, and faithfully abides by it, not having become a careless listener who forgets but ^(F1)an active doer who obeys, he will be ^(C2)blessed and favored by God in what he does in his life of obedience.

²⁶ If anyone thinks himself to be religious scrupulously observant of the rituals of his faith, and does not ^(C1)control his tongue but deludes his own heart, this person's religion is worthless (futile, barren).²⁷ Pure and unblemished religion as it is expressed in outward acts ^(C1)in the sight of our God and Father is this: to ^(C2)visit and look after the ^(C3)fatherless and the widows in their distress, and to keep oneself uncontaminated by ^(C4)the secular world.