Lust - James 1:8-18

1:8-11 - James’ comment that “a double minded man is unstable in all his ways” made me think about people I know and if this has applied in real life. The term “double minded” is cross-referenced with “integrity” and I think that’s an important defining factor where. If someone can’t make up their mind about what to have for lunch or what to study in school or which car to buy, that doesn’t make that person shady. But when the indecisiveness is rooted in morality, then it’s easy to see that same moral failing branch off in to different parts of life. I don’t think James meant this to say “if you’re not perfect in all things then you’re bad,” but I think the overall point he’s trying to make is that it’s important to choose and commit to one lifestyle or God because otherwise you’re likely to be led to a place you don’t want to go. The main motivating factor behind most human endeavors is money, power, and sex. Someone to feels they are not where they should be wealth wise can be comforted by James words, “let the brother of low degree rejoice in that he is exalted.” The word “low” is cross-referenced with Matthew 23:12 which says, “And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased; and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted.” Keeping an eternal perspective lets us see that all material gain in this world is fleeting, and everything is subject to a higher power. James compares people to grass and the rich to a flower in the lawn, the flower is the king of the yard until there is “a burning heat” and it all withers away. The sun is the higher power that the grass and flower can’t control and there’s nothing they can do to keep the sun’s will out of their lives. The article on this chapter from gospeldoctrine.com quotes Brigham Young as saying, “The Kingdom of God is all that is real worth. All else is not worth possessing, either here or hereafter… To me it is the Kingdom of God or nothing upon the earth. Without it I would not give a farthing for the wealth, glory, prestige and power of all the world combines.” That’s a pretty powerful perspective on what’s really important. Also, the sun, grass, flower analogy is also a reference to Isaiah 40:6-8 which is interesting because this is what Paul did as well, tying in the ancient Jewish scriptures with modern day teachings. 1:12-13 - The JST is important in verse 12, which says, “Blessed is the man that resisteth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promises to them that love him.” The article says, “We may refer to this verse as the beatitude of James. We should not be surprised at his use of this teaching technique since he certainly witnessed his half-brother Jesus use it frequently. The reward for enduring temptation is ‘the crown of life’- a blessing which is particularly instructive. Crowns are symbolic of royal authority by which a king or queen must wisely rule his or her own subjects and dominate threatening armies. So it is with each of us. Only those who have learned to wisely rule our own passions, carefully keeping them in subjection which at the same time successfully repelling the armed forces of the adversary truly deserve royal authority in God’s kingdom.” That was really long but I don’t feel like I could have shortened it because it was just so powerful. First, I love that it mentioned that James had probably learned how to teach from Jesus because they were brothers. Even though they were half-brothers, they were almost certainly never told that until they were both adults. So they grew up genuinely believing that they were full brothers. Secondly, so many people are so power hungry because they think those positions will grant them all types of privileges and almost certainly this means abusing or neglecting those with whom he has been entrusted to care for. My understanding of leadership is not that it’s a big party where you have servants, but rather it’s a massive responsibility in which we are to make the lives of those we care for better than our own. But this whole “I resist temptation and am rewarded by God” process might lead some people to the conclusion that God is the one who tempts us, but James makes clear that is not the case. God does not and cannot tempt us, but he allows Satan to tempt us so that we may grow spiritually. If there were no temptation then we would be stuck in a world where the only opposition would be the nature of the fallen world, which don’t get me wrong would suck, but it would be significantly less suffering than we have now. 1:14-16 - Interestingly, James suggests that “lust” is one of the biggest temptations there is, which I guess I can agree with. I didn’t think that he was going to lead with that, but let’s think about if that’s true for a second. Sexual urges are naturally occurring and apply to pretty much everyone whereas the desire for money and power aren’t nearly as universal. James uses an interesting play on word saying, “when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death. He likened the process of having a sexual desire to rationalizing it to actually committing the sin to one of the possible outcomes which is conceiving and delivering a child. 1:17-18 - And just in case we are getting too full of ourselves, James reminds us that “every good gift and every perfect gift is from above.” The article tells an interesting story about a friend of the authors who said, “’I used to take pride in those few areas in which my personal abilities were exceptional. Then as I began to understand the scriptures, I realized that even those gifts, those things that make me special- are ultimately gifts from the Lord.’… Understanding where out gifts come from ultimately helps us develop them more perfectly. Such an understanding turns us to the great source of all great gifts for the development of our talents.” God gives us gifts and talents and created this whole system because he loves us and wants us to “be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures,” which I imagine means to bless us with everything that he has.