1-11 James tells us to be patient when we see people gain wealth by evil means, as judgement is coming. However, I remember that elsewhere in scripture, there is also the idea of grace. We do not fall under judgement or condemnation for our sins when we repent of our sins and receive God’s propitiation through Jesus’ blood. In a similar way, we need to go beyond desire for justice against others to see that God doesn’t so much want the evil person to suffer, but rather, to repent.
12 Instead of only telling the truth when we take an oath, we need to tell the truth all the time. Personally, when I have time to think about it, it’s in some sense easier to do this. Often I find myself lying or “stretching the truth” or “putting a spin” on the spur of the moment, reacting on instinct. Still a long way to go towards Christ’s perfection.
13-18 Prayer is more powerful than I believe.
19-20 Here James touches on what I reflected on in the first part of this chapter -- getting people to repent is a higher value than wanting God’s wrath to fall on them.
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