Tiago 1
Warren Wiersbe · Citado em PreceptAustin
Tiago 1:2
Wiersbe - Our values determine our evaluations. If we value comfort more than character, then trials will upset us. If we value the material and physical more than the spiritual, we will not be able to ‘count it all joy!’ If we live only for the present and forget about the future, the trials will make us bitter, not better. (Bible Exposition Commentary) When God puts us in the furnace, He always keeps His eye on the clock and His hand on the thermostat. --Warren Wiersbe Hiebert on consider it all joy notes that "the meaning is not that suffering is the occasion for all the joy there is, but that it should occasion only joy, unmixed with other reactions. New Testament usage of "all" (pas) tended to support the latter meaning (Php 2:29; 1Ti 2:2; Titus 2:10; 3:2; 1Pe 2:18) (James Commentary) The work of God transforms us And makes us like His Son; He works through trials and testings Until our life is done. --Sper Warren Wiersbe makes an excellent point related to the commands James gives in chapter 1 - In James 1:12, James used a very important word, love. We would expect him to write, “the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that trust Him” or “that obey Him.” Why did James use love? Because love is the spiritual motivation behind every imperative in this section. (Bible Exposition Commentary) Douglas Moo points out that "As do Paul (Ro 5:2–4) and Peter (1Pe 1:5–7) in similar passages, James reminds his readers that God brings difficulties into believers’ lives for a purpose, and that this purpose can be accomplished only if they respond in the right way to their problems.....Why does God allow the righteous to suffer? is, indeed, one of the most perplexing and difficult questions that God’s people can ask. James gives no complete answer. But implicit in what James says is a conviction that the suffering of believers is always under the providential control of a God who wants only the best for his people. Through many dangers, toils and snares, I have already come. ’Tis grace has brought me safe thus far, And grace will lead me home. Practicing the paradox of "all joy in trials" is not normal but supernormal. In other words, joy in trials is not a natural reaction but must be a supernatural reaction. Ultimately, it seems to me, that the man or woman who is most able to obey this command is the one who is walking by the Spirit (Gal 5:16+), filled with the Spirit, controlled by the Spirit (Eph 5:16+). As the believer yields to the Spirit, making the determined choice of his will, he or she is enabled to manifest supernatural joy (Galatians 5:22+). For example, recall the exhortation of the writer of Hebrews to continually (present tense) fix… our eyes on (by faith turning our eyes away from earthly things and fixing them on) Jesus, the Author and Perfecter of faith, Who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. (Hebrews 12:2+) Comment: Christ "endured" this trial and the shame with His eyes on the joy His sacrifice would bring. And as Peter said "Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example for you to follow in His steps" 1Peter 2:23 + Matthew
Tiago 1:2
Wiersbe adds that the encouraging note that "We must keep in mind that all God plans and performs here is preparation for what He has in store for us in heaven. He is preparing us for the life and service yet to come. Nobody yet knows all that is in store for us in heaven, but we do know that life on earth is a school in which God trains us for our future ministry in eternity. This explains the presence of trials in our lives for they are some of God’s tools and textbooks in the school of Christian experience. (Bible Exposition Commentary) Steven