Subtle note on the beginning of the book is that tho James is Jesus’ brother he calls himself a servant of him. It’s beautiful tho we are all brother’s of Christ we ought to be calling ourselves servants of him also.
James 1:1
💡 የእግዚአብሔርና የጌታ የኢየሱስ ክርስቶስ አገልጋይ ያዕቆብ ለተበተኑ ለዐሥራ ሁለቱ ነገዶች፤ ሰላም ለእናንተ ይሁን።
💡 James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, To the twelve tribes scattered among the nations: Greetings.
Temptations allure towards sin or disobedience to God's commands. It is the internal or external force that seeks to draw a person away from righteousness and into sinful thoughts, words, or actions. It’s the provoking of lawlessness.
Temptations are opportunities for Joy and of-course Sadness. If you pass through your temptations you will mature and become a stronger person but if you fail (as I usually do) you’ll feel guilty, unworthy and incapable.
During temptation, it is your faith that is tempted. Trials test and refine our faith in God, they question if the unseen things we believed are true or not. Trials are here to make you doubt. To doubt that what God told you to be true is actually false. And it is persisting through this, meaning staying faithful when opportunities to doubt rise, that will produce perseverance which will lead to maturity and completeness.
James 1:2-4
💡 ወንድሞቼ ሆይ! ልዩ ልዩ ፈተና ሲደርስባችሁ እንደ ደስታ አድርጋችሁ ቁጠሩት፤ ምክንያቱም የእምነታችሁ መፈተን እንደሚያጸናችሁ ታውቃላችሁ፥ ምንም የሚጎድላችሁ ሳይኖር ፍጹማንና ምሉዓን እንድትሆኑ ጽናትም ሥራውን ይፈጽም።
💡 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. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.
A person who perseveres is a blessed person as that leads to receiving the Crown of Life
James 1:12
💡 ጌታ ለሚወዱት ተስፋ የሰጣቸውን የሕይወትን አክሊል ተፈትኖ ይቀበላልና፥ በፈተና የሚጸና ሰው የተባረከ ነው።
💡 Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because, having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him.
Side Note: I was thinking that if a person doubts that he’ll go to heaven would he not? So that got me thinking and if a person does doubt that he will fail all temptations before hand which will lead to the growth of sin and inevitably the cause of spiritual death.
The crown of life symbolizes eternal life, it is not that halo that floats on the heads of angels and holy people in movies and shows. It is eternal life with God.
Revelations 2:10
💡 እስከ ሞት ድረስ ታማኝ ሁን፤ እኔም የሕይወትን አክሊል እሰጥሃለሁ።
💡 Be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will give you life as your victor’s crown.
A simple summary of the above would be:
Temptations → Test your Faith → If You Persevere → You Mature & Complete → Then Receive the Crown of Life
God doesn’t tempt and God cannot be tempted. Here something needs to be clarified; God doesn’t tempt you to sin, he doesn’t allure or entice you to do evil or to doubt BUT he does allow you to be in tempting circumstances and environments.
Another thing to be noted is that God doesn’t tempt but He tests. So a simple example to compare would be the story of Eve in the Garden and Abraham on the mountain. Satan tempted Eve, meaning he allured her to doubt. But during Abraham’s interaction with God about asking Abraham to sacrifice his son, God tested Abraham whether he loves him more than his son or not.
God doesn’t tempt but He tests.
James 1:13
💡 ማንም ሲፈተን “እግዚአብሔር ፈተነኝ፤” አይበል፤ እግዚአብሔር በክፉ አይፈተንምና፤ እርሱስ ማንንም አይፈትንም።
💡 When tempted, no one should say, “God is tempting me.” For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone
But then we are shown how we are tempted. Here the devil doesn’t spontaneously create a new passion or attraction to sin instead he uses what we already possess. That evil desire and lust in our heart. He uses that to tempt us. Meaning even as a christian he will use this evil lust you have to make you doubt your faith on God. Then you can either take the perseverance path of resisting temptation or you can give in to temptation and sin.
Note here that Sin it self didn’t give birth to death, he specifically said that full grown Sin leads to death. And full grown sin suggests a progression or a series of choices and actions that lead to a state of complete disobedience and separation from God. It is this that leads to spiritual death.
This is why it’s better to repent and be back to God as soon as possible instead of running away from God as soon as we sin. Because when avoiding God and repentance we are allowing sin to flourish and mature. And this prolonged state of unrepentant and habitual sinful behavior is what ultimately causes spiritual death.
James 1:14-15
💡 ነገር ግን እያንዳንዱ የሚፈተነው በራሱ ምኞት ሲሳብና ሲታለል ነው። ምኞት ከፀነሰች በኋላ ኃጢአትን ትወልዳለች፤ ኃጢአትም ካደገች በኋላ ሞትን ትወልዳለች።
💡 But each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.
Our Own Evil Desire → Leads to Sin → Sin Persists → Causes Death
To be tempted is one thing, to sin another but to persist in sin is completely damaging.
James 1:14-15
💡 ነገር ግን እያንዳንዱ የሚፈተነው በራሱ ምኞት ሲሳብና ሲታለል ነው። ምኞት ከፀነሰች በኋላ ኃጢአትን ትወልዳለች፤ ኃጢአትም ካደገች በኋላ ሞትን ትወልዳለች።
💡 But each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.
Proverbs 4:23
💡 ከሁሉም በላይ ልብህን ጠብቅ፤ የሕይወት ምንጭ ነውና።
💡 Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.
James 4:7
💡 እንግዲህ ራሳችሁን ለእግዚአብሔር አስገዙ፤ ዲያብሎስን ተቃወሙት፤ ከእናንተም ይሸሻል።
💡 Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
Psalms 119:11
💡 አንተን እንዳልበድል፣ ቃልህን በልቤ ሰወርሁ።
💡 I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.
1 Corinthians 6:18
💡 ከዝሙት ሽሹ።
💡 Flee from sexual immorality.
James 5:16
💡 ስለዚህ ኀጢአታችሁን እርስ በርሳችሁ ተናዘዙ፤ ትፈወሱም ዘንድ አንዱ ለሌላው ይጸልይ። የጻድቅ ሰው ጸሎት ኃይል አለው፤ ታላቅ ነገርም ያደርጋል።
💡 Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.
1 John 1:9
💡 ኀጢአታችንን ብንናዘዝ ኀጢአታችንን ይቅር ሊለን፣ ከዐመፃ ሁሉ ሊያነጻን እርሱ ታማኝና ጻድቅ ነው።
💡 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.
Here James encourages us to seek wisdom in all aspects of life because some of us lack wisdom. In-fact, asking for wisdom is crucial that even Solomon wasn’t given it until he asked for it. But then again who gave him the wisdom to ask for wisdom?!
Another thing we can learn is that God is a source of wisdom, meaning that wisdom has a touch of spirituality to it. It may not be something that’s taught in school or from people but is a spiritual gift from God to man.
Now here we notice that people lack wisdom and God knows that. So God doesn’t discriminate or choose who to give wisdom to. That means everyone who asks God for wisdom doubtlessly has an equal chance of being wise.
Tho when asking God for wisdom or anything James tells us that we should ask in complete doubtless faith. We shouldn’t doubt His ability or willingness to provide wisdom, as doubt reveals a lack of faith. Doubt causes instability and inconsistency in our relationship with God, hindering our ability to receive from Him. So doubting will not only cause problems in your relationship with God but will also hinder you from getting what you asked for.
Side note on doubt is that when you doubt you are basically saying that “God can’t do it” comparing him to man or “God won’t do it” not understanding his will. So God isn’t a person who’s to be doubted, he does what he says and his will is clear.
The truth of the matter is that God wants you to be wise and if you ask him doubtlessly he will give you it graciously with no questions asked!
Lack Wisdom → Ask God without doubting → Receive abundant Wisdom
James 1:5-8
💡 ከእናንተ ማንም ጥበብ ቢጎድለው፥ ሳይነቅፍ በልግስና ለሁሉ የሚሰጠውን እግዚአብሔርን ይለምን፤ ለእርሱም ይሰጠዋል። ነገር ግን በምንም ሳይጠራጠር በእምነት ይለምን፤ ምክንያቱም የሚጠራጠር ሰው በነፋስ እንደሚገፋና እንደሚነዋወጥ የባሕርን ማዕበል ነው። ያ ሰው ከጌታ ዘንድ አንዳች አገኛለሁ ብሎ ሊያስብ አይገባውም። በመንገዱ ሁሉ የሚወላውል ሁለት ሐሳብ ያለው ሰው ነው።
💡 If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you. But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. Such a person is double-minded and unstable in all they do.
And God has limitless wisdom
Psalms 147:5
💡 ጌታችን ታላቅ ነው፤ እጅግ ኀያልም ነው፤ ለጥበቡም ወሰን የለውም።
💡 Great is our Lord and mighty in power; his understanding has no limit.
We can notice that believers can be poor or rich showing that believing in Christ isn’t a source of finances. Certain things to remark is that the poor aren’t encouraged to be prideful of their poorness, and the rich aren’t encouraged to be prideful of the wealth they’ve acquired. But they’re both encouraged to be prideful of the relationship they have with God.
The poor being lowly yet God forms a relationship with them, the rich possessing temporary material yet God forms a relationship with them. It is this that we should be proud of. That our value isn’t determined by our temporary possessions, social status or wealth but by our relationship with God.
James 1:9-11
💡 ዝቅ ያለው ወንድም ከፍ በማለቱ ይመካ፥ ሀብታምም እንደ ሣር አበባ ስለሚረግፍ በውርደቱ ይመካ። የፀሐይ ቃጠሎ በንዳዱ ሲወጣ ሣሩን ያደርቀዋል፤ አበባውም ይረግፋል፤ የመልኩም ውበት ይጠፋል፤ እንዲሁ ሀብታም ሰው በመንገዱ ይዝላል።
💡 Believers in humble circumstances ought to take pride in their high position. But the rich should take pride in their humiliation—since they will pass away like a wild flower. For the sun rises with scorching heat and withers the plant; its blossom falls and its beauty is destroyed. In the same way, the rich will fade away even while they go about their business.
The God of the poor is also the God of the rich
Proverbs 22:2
💡 ባለጠጋና ድሀ ተገናኙ፤ እግዚአብሔር የሁላቸው ፈጣሪ ነው።
💡 Rich and poor have this in common: The Lord is the Maker of them all.
Your value isn’t in what you possess but in who possesses you.
James wants to make it clear to us to not be deceived that the good we got isn’t from any other source but from God. All good things are from God. And to relate to the previous ideas we discussed, wisdom is also from God.
Here James went out his way to express God’s nature. How it doesn’t change nor shift like shadows. God's nature and character does not change. What that means is that the same God that gave Solomon wisdom when asked for will do the exact same for us.
James 1:16-17
💡 የተወደዳችሁ ወንድሞቼ ሆይ! አትታለሉ! መልካም ስጦታ ሁሉ፥ ፍጹምም በረከት ሁሉ፥ እንደ ጥላ መዘዋወር ወይም መለዋወጥ ከሌለበት ከላይ ከብርሃናት አባት ይወርዳሉ። ለፍጥረቱ የበኵራት እንድንሆን በገዛ ፈቃዱ በእውነት ቃል ወለደን።
💡 Don’t be deceived, my dear brothers and sisters. Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of first-fruits of all he created.
If there is any good anywhere, it is from God
God remains unchanged and consistent so that we can rely on him knowing that he won’t change on us
Here James emphasizes that believers are receivers of the new birth through the Word of truth or the message of salvation through Jesus Christ. And we, the believers of this Word, are first fruits — meaning that we are the first of our kinds to receive salvation through belief and not offerings.
James 1:18
💡 ለፍጥረቱ የበኵራት እንድንሆን በገዛ ፈቃዱ በእውነት ቃል ወለደን።
💡 He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of first-fruits of all he created.
Here it is pointed to us that there there is wisdom in listening well, speaking less and controlling anger. And it is proper communication to listen first then speak.
As a person with anger issues, I am learning that anger hinders righteous behavior and can lead to harmful consequences. So believers should strive to control and restrain it.
James 1:19-20
💡 የተወደዳችሁ ወንድሞቼ ሆይ! ይህን አትርሱ፥ ሰው ሁሉ ለመስማት የፈጠነ፥ ለመናገርም የዘገየ፥ ለቁጣም የዘገየ ይሁን፤ የሰው ቁጣ የእግዚአብሔርን ጽድቅ አይሠራምና።
💡 My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, because human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires.
The Word of God is described as being implanted in believers, indicating the transformative power of God's truth. It is to be received with humility allowing it to shape our thoughts, attitudes, and actions acknowledging its ability to bring salvation and change lives. While in doing this we should also get rid of evil and restrain from doing it.
Here we are urged to get rid of these things:
The term “Get rid of” implies a deliberate and intentional effort on the part of believers to separate themselves from such moral filth and evil influences. It involves actively renouncing and turning away from sinful patterns of behavior, embracing a lifestyle of holiness, and seeking God's help to resist temptation and overcome the allure of worldly values.
James 1:20
💡 ስለዚህ ርኩሰትን ሁሉ የክፋትንም ትርፍ አስወግዳችሁ፥ ነፍሳችሁን ማዳን የሚችለውን በውስጣችሁም የተተከለውን ቃል በየዋህነት ተቀበሉ።
💡 Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you.
The word of God is implanted into us and it can save our soul but the only way it does that is if we humbly accept it.
We as believers have the role of actively and intentionally separating our selves from all wrongdoings.
James highlights that listening to the Word without putting it into practice is self-deception. The word of God is a mirror that shows us our true nature. We can either know that true nature and not do anything about it or we could take action intentionally and consistently and remove the filth and wrong from our lives and in doing so the word has set us free.
James 1:22-25
💡 ቃሉን የምታደርጉ ሁኑ እንጂ ራሳችሁን እያታለላችሁ፥ የምትሰሙ ብቻ አትሁኑ። ቃሉን የሚሰማና የማያደርግ ቢኖር የተፈጥሮ ፊቱን በመስተዋት የሚያይን ሰው ይመስላል፤ ራሱን አይቶ ይሄዳል፤ ወዲያውም ምን እንደሚመስል ይረሳል። ነገር ግን ነጻ የሚያወጣውን ፍጹሙን ሕግ ተመልክቶ የሚጸናበት፥ ሥራንም የሚሠራ እንጂ ሰምቶ የሚረሳ ያልሆነው፥ በሥራው የተባረከ ይሆናል።
💡 Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it—not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it—they will be blessed in what they do.
Christian should diligently examine and obey the perfect law of freedom
This part is similar to one of Jesus’ parables:
Matthew 7:24-27
💡 እንግዲህ ይህን ቃሌን ሰምቶ በተግባር የሚያውል፣ ቤቱን በዐለት ላይ የሠራን ብልኅ ሰው ይመስላል። ዶፍ ወረደ፤ ጐርፍም ጐረፈ፤ ነፋስም ነፈሰ፤ ያንን ቤት መታው፤ በዐለትም ላይ ስለ ተመሠረተ አልወደቀም። ይህን ቃሌን ሰምቶ በተግባር የማያውለው ግን ቤቱን በአሸዋ ላይ የሠራን ሞኝ ሰው ይመስላል። ዶፍ ወረደ፤ ጐርፍም ጐረፈ፤ ነፋስም ነፈሰ፤ ያንን ቤት መታው፤ ቤቱም ወደቀ፤ አወዳደቁም የከፋ ነበር።
💡 Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.
To listen and study the word of God is one thing but to live it our is a completely different thing:
Romans 2:13
💡 ምክንያቱም በእግዚአብሔር ፊት ጻድቃን የሚባሉት ለሕጉ የሚታዘዙ እንጂ፣ ሕጉን የሚሰሙ አይደሉም።
💡 For it is not those who hear the law who are righteous in God’s sight, but it is those who obey the law who will be declared righteous.
This part can be summarized as:
Just like how we look at our selves on a mirror everyday and adjust ourselves to be proper, we should look at God’s word every day. So that everyday we can see what’s wrong with us and everyday we can adjust it. It may be the same thing that we adjust but keep adjusting.
The Word of God is described as the perfect law that brings freedom. It is not a burden but a means of guidance and liberation.
Study God’s word → Live God’s word
As the tongue speaks out what the heart is filled of, true religion is a transformation of the heart that is evident in one's words and actions. Also as true religion is reflected in personal conduct it is also reflected in social responsibilities.
And one not so obvious but beautiful part of worship is to keep ourselves away from sin. This act is not only good for us, but it is a form of worship.
James 1:26-27
💡 አንደበቱን ሳይገታ፥ ልቡን እያሳተ እግዚአብሔርን የሚያመልክ የሚመስለው ማንም ቢኖር የእርሱ አምልኮ ከንቱ ነው። በእግዚአብሔር አብ ፊት ንጹሕና ያልረከሰ አምልኮ፥ “አባትና እናት የሞቱባቸውን ልጆች፥ እንዲሁም ባሎቻቸው የሞቱባቸውን ሴቶች በችግራቸው መርዳት፥ ራስንም ከዓለም ርኲሰት መጠበቅ ነው።”
💡 Those who consider themselves religious and yet do not keep a tight rein on their tongues deceive themselves, and their religion is worthless. Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.
Be transformed enough that the way you speak is evidence of it
It is wise to control our tongue. It has also been said that even a fool who controls his tongue is deemed wise
Proverbs 17:28
💡 አላዋቂ እንኳ ዝም ቢል ጠቢብ፣ አንደበቱንም ቢገዛ አስተዋይ ይመስላል።
💡 Even fools are thought wise if they keep silent, and discerning if they hold their tongues.