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II. The Value of Trials and Temptation

Perseverance in Trial. (A)Consider it all joy, my brothers, when you encounter various trials,[a] for you know that the testing[b] of your faith produces perseverance. And let perseverance be perfect, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. But if any of you lacks wisdom,[c] he should ask God who gives to all generously and ungrudgingly, and he will be given it.(B) But he should ask in faith, not doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed about by the wind.(C) For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord, since he is a man of two minds, unstable in all his ways.

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Footnotes

  1. 1:2 Consider it all joy…various trials: a frequent teaching of the New Testament derived from the words and sufferings of Jesus (Mt 5:10–12; Jn 10:11; Acts 5:41).
  2. 1:3–8 The sequence of testing, perseverance, and being perfect and complete indicates the manner of attaining spiritual maturity and full preparedness for the coming of Christ (Jas 5:7–12; cf. 1 Pt 1:6–7; Rom 5:3–5). These steps require wisdom (Jas 1:5).
  3. 1:5 Wisdom: a gift that God readily grants to all who ask in faith and that sustains the Christian in times of trial. It is a kind of knowledge or understanding not accessible to the unbeliever or those who doubt, which gives the recipient an understanding of the real importance of events. In this way a Christian can deal with adversity with great calm and hope (cf. 1 Cor 2:6–12).