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Welcome to our journey through James 1! I’m so glad that you’ve joined us. Whether you’re here for a better understanding of this chapter or if you’re going to memorize the chapter while we’re walking together through it, know that I’m praying for you! I’m excited to get started and hope you are too. Let’s dive in!
James 1:1-3
James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes scattered among the nations: Greetings. Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance.
The book of James starts off with a wallop. After his short greeting, James gets right to the point… We are to be joyful whenever we face trials. It’s kind of a tough pill to swallow and we’re only at verse 2! Apparently, the half-brother of Jesus didn’t want to mince words even from the get-go.
The word “consider” here is the Greek word hegeomai, which is also translated as “to count, think or esteem” in other places in the New Testament[1]. Think about that… We are to esteem trials, meaning we are to value them, to highly regard them. That isn’t our normal human inclination, is it? We would much rather avoid or run away from trials if at all possible, and if they are unavoidable, we’re more likely to complain and grumble than to consider them joyfully. Why are we to be joyful in the face of trials? James doesn’t make us wait long and quickly provides the answer in verse 3… Trials test our faith, which produces perseverance.
Perseverance is one of those attributes we wish we could just be born with. We all know that perseverance is a great quality to have in this crazy life and provides strength to keep enduring, but we really don’t want to suffer in order to gain it. However, that is the only way to grow in perseverance… To face trials and just keep going. You can’t gain resilience through quitting. And deep down we already know this. James calls this out in verse 3 saying, “because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance” (emphasis added). We know this is true.
The testing of our faith helps us grow in spiritual strength. While in our human nature we don’t enjoy the trials we face, as believers we should esteem them joyfully, knowing that God is making us stronger, changing us to become more like Christ, and giving us more perseverance through them. Now that sounds like something to be joyful about!
[1] G2233 – hēgeomai – Strong’s Greek Lexicon (nasb20). Retrieved from https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/g2233/nasb20/mgnt/0-1/
Heather L. Myers 