James 1 is an amazing chapter! One that has changed my life and the lives of millions throughout the world. In it James invites us to go to God for direction in our lives and outlines what a true follower of Christ should be doing in their lives. In verse
5 James says "if any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God...and it shall be given him." I love this verse because we all "lack wisdom" sometimes but this verse promises that if we ask God for direction, He will guide us and give us the answers that we need. In the next verse James goes on to talk about asking in faith and he defines that as not wavering which can be a hard thing to do because as humans we tend to doubt things that we can't physically see, especially when the answers to our prayers don't come immediately. But faith is a very important element in getting answers to prayers because it requires us to trust that God will keep His promises and be there to help us.
In verse
8 James says that "a double minded man is unstable in all his ways." To understand more what he means by "double minded man" we can go to
Matthew 6:24 where Christ says that "no man can serve two masters" in other words, we can't serve both God and Satan. We are always on one side or the other. Another example is found in
1 Kings 18:21 when Elijah tells the people that they need to choose whether they are going to follow God or Baal. In the world today we have to choose between whether we are going to stick to God's standards that have never changed or live the constantly changing standards of the world.
In verses
James 1:13-15,
19-27 James gives an outline of how we can better follow the gospel of Jesus Christ, these are some of the things that I found as I read it:
- Remember that God never tempts us to do evil, that is always Satan (verse 13)
- Listen and think before you speak or get angry (verse 19)
- Only the application word of God can save our souls, not the things of the world. (verse 21)
- We have to do something with the knowledge that we receive, we can't just hear it and then forget about it (verses 22-25)
- Pure religion involves helping others and being kind (verses 26-27)
James 1:22 is a very powerful verse talking about being a doer of the word and not just a hearer. There are many examples of this is the scriptures but we can also see examples of this in our everyday lives. One way that I have seen this principle in action recently is with a man that I met while I was serving as a full time missionary. He was a very nice man but he hadn't really practiced religion much in his life and he'd had a bit of a rough past. As we started teaching this man about the gospel of Jesus Christ he was a little hesitant at first to try things out and start living it but once he did he was committed. He knew that it was what God wanted him to do and he was willing to accept any and all commandments that we taught him about. It added to my testimony of how living the gospel can truly bless our lives and change us into the people that God knows we can become.
The last thing I want to write about are the verses from this chapter that have impacted my life the most. They are verses 5-6 and about these verse Elder Bruce R. McConkie (a former member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles) said "this single verse of scripture has had a greater impact and a more far reaching effect upon mankind than any other single sentence ever recorded by any prophet in any age" (
The Life and Teachings of Jesus Christ & His Apostles). The reason that he said that is because these are the verses that led Joseph Smith to ask God which church he should join and because of that question we have the restored gospel of Jesus Christ on the earth today. I am grateful to be a part of this restored gospel and to have the knowledge that we have a living prophet on the earth today.
