James 1:3 - Printer Friendly

ESV: for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.

NIV: because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance.

NASB: knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance.

CSB: because you know that the testing of your faith produces endurance.

NLT: For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow.

KJV: Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience.

NKJV: knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience.

Verses 2, 3, and 4 need to be considered together in order to fully grasp the point James is making. In the previous verse, he has written that believers must call it joy when trials come our way. Or, to put it more bluntly, we should see the good side of bad things happening to us. Verse 2 uses an accounting term, which has nothing to do with our emotions. We might feel sorrow or anger over our trials, but we can still tally them under "joy."

Here in verse 3, James gives the beginning of his answer to why God would ask us to do that. In short, it's about faith. It's about trusting God. God wants us to respond to trials—to the hard things in our lives—in a way that demonstrates our trust in Him. A major theme of the book of James is that God cares deeply about our faith in Him. Faith, a trusting, humble reliance on God, is how we came into relationship with Him in the first place. That is how we come to trust in Christ for our salvation. And a Christian's growing faith in God is evidence of a growing relationship with Him.

So, James says that when a trial or hardship comes our way, we should label that moment as joyful because it will test our faith. By definition, a trial creates a moment where we don't know how things will work out. A trial wrecks our plans. A trial takes away our ability to see the clear path to getting what we think will make us happy. It is in those moments that we make life's most critical choices. Either we will decide, "If God let this happen to me, I will not trust Him. If He will not prevent days like this, I will find someone else to trust." Or, the struggle will push us to turn to God for more help, to trust more deeply that He is with us and for us, to believe that He will carry us through.

When we choose to trust Him, He provides. Our endurance—the ability to keep trusting Him while trials continue unresolved—grows. And since our faith is the most important thing to our God, that is worth rejoicing.

James 1:2–18 begins with a challenging command for Christians. We are to classify hard things in their lives as ''joyful,'' because those ordeals help us develop a deeper trust in God. Christians who trust God also seek wisdom from Him—and not from ungodly sources. We continue to trust Him through difficult experiences, in part, to receive the crown of life promised to those who don't stop. We don't blame Him for our desire to sin, but we do credit Him for every good thing in our lives.

How important is it for Christians to trust God? It's so important, James writes, that we should call our worst moments joyful things, because trials help us trust God more. People who trust God ask Him for wisdom—and then take what He gives. People who trust God make a bigger deal about their rewards in the next life than their wealth in this one. People who trust God don't blame Him for their desire to sin; they give Him credit for all that is good in their lives. They look into His Word, and they act on what they see there.

This first chapter in the book of James sets the course for the rest of his letter to Christians worldwide. God wants us to trust Him more, and more deeply, as we learn more of Him. This is so important to God that He calls on us to find joy, even in hard times, because hardship helps us trust God more. Those who really trust God will ask Him for wisdom, will be excited about their status in eternity, will recognize Him as the source of all good in their lives, and will work to act on what they find in His Word.

The book of James is about specifically understanding what saving faith looks like. How does faith in Christ reveal itself in a believer's life? What choices does real trust in God lead us to make? Those are the questions James answers. Most scholars believe the writer was Jesus' half-brother, a son born to Joseph and Mary after Jesus' birth. James may not have come to believe Jesus was the Messiah until after the resurrection. Eventually, though, he became one of the leaders of the Christian church in Jerusalem. This is possibly the earliest-written of all the New Testament books, around AD 40–50. James addresses his letter to Jewish Christians scattered around the known world.