James 1:8 - Printer Friendly

ESV: he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.

NIV: Such a person is double-minded and unstable in all they do.

NASB: being a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.

CSB: being double-minded and unstable in all his ways.

NLT: Their loyalty is divided between God and the world, and they are unstable in everything they do.

KJV: A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.

NKJV: he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.

This verse completes a crucial idea which James introduced in verse 5. God promises wisdom to all who ask Him for it. He promises to give it generously and not based on our merit. The caveat is that we must believe and not doubt. We must not seek wisdom from sources contrary to God at the same time, expecting to weigh God's wisdom against others and decide which we will follow. We can consult godly advisors, and look to God's creation, but we can't weigh His wisdom against that of the world before we decide who to trust.

Verse 7 made it clear that a doubtful person—the one who treats God as only one of many options—should not expect to receive any wisdom from God. This verse calls that person both double-minded and unstable. Trying to live by God's wisdom while also following a form of "wisdom" from another source will always lead us in two different directions. We will always be deciding whose wisdom feels more right to us in any given moment. In that way, we end up making a god of our own ability to pick the "right" wisdom from day to day.

James makes it clear that the only stable life is one in which a believer has resolved to follow God's wisdom—period. Those who trust the Father seek wisdom from the Father and follow the wisdom the Father gives, no matter what.

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.