The Book of James Week Two Lesson One

“Good and Perfect”

“So don’t be misled, my dear brothers and sisters. Whatever is good and perfect comes down to us from God our Father, who created all the lights in the heavens. He never changes or casts a shifting shadow. He chose to give birth to us by giving us his true word. And we, out of all creation, became his prized possession.

   Understand this, my dear brothers and sisters: You must all be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to get angry. Human anger does not produce the righteousness God desires. So get rid of all the filth and evil in your lives, and humbly accept the word God has planted in your hearts, for it has the power to save your souls.”

 James 1:16-21

James opens this portion of our scripture for today by telling us not to be misled. We’ve all seen it before when someone has two or more choices and they choose the one thing we all know will lead them down the wrong path. It seems so obvious to us. But, I’ll bet that others have watched us and thought the same thing. 

In verse 16 James warns us to not be mislead or deceived. But what is the next bit of information he tells us in verse 17?

In previous verses 13-15 we learned about temptation. We cannot and will not be fulfilled when we succumb to temptation. So often the enticement of the temptation is it offers a way out of the bad situation we are in. James is warning us that temptation is not the answer to our problems. 

What are some temptations that you struggle with that seem to offer a way out and you have later found out cause more harm than good?

Where should we go for everything good and perfect? Why do you or don’t you believe this is true?

God is the true source of good and perfect gifts. His answers may not line up with what we consider appropriate at the time. We all have ideas of how things should go in life. Our plans, our desires, our will may not be His plans, His desire, His will. So often we struggle and fight against Him. God asks us to trust and follow. This is called faith.

Read Proverbs 16:9. What do you learn from this verse?

If you and I know where the source of good and perfect things come from then why do we so often choose another source? What are some common sources, other than God, that you choose to take?

If your heart we know where good gifts come from, then that’s where we should go. Since God is the source of all good things, then He as our Master, should be our first choice. Ironically, its not were we go every time we are in need.

Look again at James 1:18-19 in the New Living Translation: He chose to give birth to us by giving us his true word. And we, out of all creation, became his prized possession.

What did God choose to do?

How did He do it?

Out of all creation, who are we to Him?

Think about it. If you adore someone, how would you treat them? Would you give them your very best? Of course you would. That is what God does for us. He gave us His best and His best is Jesus. This new birth that He gives to those who choose to accept the good and perfect gift of Jesus comes through our denying ourselves and taking up His plans and purposes for our lives.

Let’s move on the the second half of today’s lesson. Read James 1:19-21. Let’s break each verse down:

Verse 19 - What should we take note of in this verse?

When my son was a little boy, maybe five or six, his Grandma was telling him something. She began to wonder if he was hearing her because he seemed so distracted. So, she asked him, “Johnny, are you listening to me?” His response was, “Yeah Grandma, I hear you. I’m just not listening.”

Our response is so often like Johnny’s response to his grandmother. Do we hear God or are we just not listening? Our physical ears are functioning, but we are taking in the information and instruction to our spirit from God’s Holy Spirit. We don’t perceive. True listening is perception, taking hold of what is being said and processing the information. We are quick to be quick in response to God’s voice. We must take the information and begin to implement His will in our lives.

Verse 20 - This verse gives the reasoning behind James’ instruction to be quick to listen and slow to speak. What is it?

The Greek word for “slow” is “brady” which means, “reluctant, cautious, and deliberate; not in a knee-jerk, reactionary fashion.”

When we hold our tongues and listen, we are not pushing down anger, we are processing the information so we can respond correctly. If we take the time to listen we can go to God and ask Him to give us the words to say or not to say. The Holy Spirit is our speech writer, if you will, and He is always willing to speak to and through us if we just listen. What would our lives be like if we would just go to God for the good and perfect response to every situation in our live? Hmmmmm....

Read Proverbs 14:29-30. What are the results if patience?

What is the result of anger?

I know I have a quick temper. I have said and done things that I have deeply regretted because I acted in an ungodly way. My prayer is that I will heed my own lesson today and learn to act as Jesus would have me act.

Verse 21 - What are we to get rid of?

What are we to humbly accept? Why?

To have a right relationship with God, each one of us must remove the filth and evil that we allow in our lives. We must replace it with God’s Word. When we become faithful followers of Jesus, His Word is planted deep in our spirit. When sin is prevalent in our actions, we push that seed down. However, when we choose to remove the sin by repentance, we allow God’s Word through Christ Jesus to flourish. It’s an act of our will.

Read Ephesians 4:22 . What are we to “put off” and why?

What are we to put on and why?

What is this “new self” created to be like?

The Greek word used in this verse for “put off” is “apotithemi” which means, “to put aside.” In other words, we are to remove our old life like we would an old stinky, ratty shirt.

The Greek word used for “put on” is “endyo” which means “to clothe oneself.” When we remove the old life we put on a new clean life much like we do when we change from dirty clothes to clean ones. 

The Apostles James and Paul give us vivid examples of how we are to respond to God and to life. In a nutshell we learned we are to know where good and perfect things come from and that is from God. He doesn’t change. His character always remains the same. We are His prized possession and He gave us His very best ~ His Son Jesus. As His children, we are to be quick to listen, slow to speak and thus slow to become angry, depending on Him as the source of our speech and actions. Anger separates us from our Lord. We also learned, that we can’t live in a right relationship with Jesus if we continue to live our lives with obvious sin and evil in our hearts. It takes humility to accept that we are sinners so we can allow God’s Word to grow and take over the thought processes we had in our old lives.

God desires a right relationship with us. We need to ask ourselves where there is anger or some other sin we are hanging on to? Are we quick to listen or do we plug our ears to drown out the voice of His Holy Spirit? Isn’t it time to be honest with God and ourselves? Humility before our Master Jesus is the only way to grow in our walk with Him.