James addresses some of the issues that are involved in trials and temptations. If these truths, principles, and realities are understood and thoroughly absorbed into our lives, they will alter how we respond to suffering in our lives.

When You’re Suffering Remember A Christian’s Goals

Verse 12: there is a crown to win It should be a joy when we face trials, because we recognize that it is these pressures that make us stronger.You press on, and you learn some responsibilities under stress. Gradually, you learn a little better how to handle them and how to become a little more mature in your judgments.

If you keep persevering, ultimately you’re becoming mature. You can’t really become mature in your faith unless you face some of those difficult kinds of things. If your life is always easy, your faith is never stretched and tested so that you learn perseverance and, ultimately, maturity.

The Crown of Life means life in all of its fullness, life in its perfection, life in its resurrection splendor. We’re not just trying to get through life and make it. We’re trying to press on toward the ultimate goal of receiving this crown of life in the new heaven and the new earth.

Don’t Misunderstand God’s Motives
in His Sovereignty Over Suffering

In temptation, you are being tempted to do something bad. But a trial, by itself, is not a temptation to do something bad. Rather, it is some kind of pressure that has come upon you. Although God may test us to prove our faith, lower our pride, build endurance, or push us toward an eternal hunger for our eternal home, He never does so in order to induce sin.

When Suffering in Difficulties,
Remember God’s Goodness

Verse 16 “Don’t be deceived, my dear brothers.” Don’t kid yourself. Don’t mislead yourself or fail to tell yourself the truth about where the real sin comes from. It comes from our own inner desires. A danger we face while suffering is to begin to have a pity party, lashing out at God Himself. We charge Him with not being good.

To see the ultimate demonstration of God’s goodness, one must return to the gospel, and that takes you back to the cross. It takes you back to all that He has done, bearing our sin in His own body on the tree, and all of its working in all of our lives as Christians, not only now, but for all eternity.

It is good to thank God for all of the temporal blessings. However, if you over-emphasize the temporal blessings, you lose sight of the eternal ones.

We must focus on the commonalities that all Christians have. Then, we have a community of people who are abundantly thankful for God’s immaculate, total goodness, in which we all participate and partake.

When You Hear Gospel Instruction,
Don’t Push if Off as Only for the Past

Verses 19 to 25. Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry. Man’s anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires.

If this is following on naturally from the preceding text, then the anger, the loose tongue, may
be in function of facing trials and temptations that are making us bitter and a part of us lashing
out and slamming God, or other people.

The point is: The Bible can speak of this gospel still doing its saving, transforming work within us.

This text is saying the gospel must continue to do its saving, transforming work within us. We are to live out what it means to live under the gospel. You do what it says; you become a gospel person.

Live in it, Live under it. Do the gospel, because this gospel, written to Christians, is still able to save you. It’s this message of the gospel that comes to you and still transforms you, saves you, and teaches you that you are accepted before God because of Jesus, not because of what you have done or are doing; it is not a works salvation. You are accepted in the beloved because of what Christ has done. There’s a freedom so that, yes, we learn to serve and we pursue excellence, but it is in the matrix of gratitude to God for all that He has done.

Lord, help us not to forget the Gospel, but still to live it. Help us to do (Love DOES, acts, works)
gospel living, to live under this good news. Help us remember You save us from our wretched
tendency toward self-exoneration, self-promotion and self-presentation, as if somehow, now,
we can win your favor by our hard effort. Amen