James 5 - Conclusion

We have come to the final part of James chapter 5. Here, James gives an exhortation to believers. First, he tells the believer to be patient in the midst of suffering. In the previous verses, James just finished going on a rant against the rich corrupt rulers. It is hard to be patient in the midst of that. But, Jesus modeled that behavior for us when He was silent before His accusers. When we are patient in oppressive times, it shows the world that we trust our Heavenly Father to work things out. It also shows the world the true difference between justice and revenge.

Next, James warns the believers not to grumble and complain about each other. When you are putting up with everything going on in your life, It is hard not to complain. Everyone reading this has probably done it. But this issue has to do with a spirit of bitterness we can develop when we are just beat down by the world and we feel like everything is against us. However as we previously read, we can trust God to work things out. We can choose to trust Him and not be bitter and have a more effective testimony about how God helped us through a tough time.

As we reach the conclusion of James, there have been many things that James has said not to do. So, James ends with some things we can do including prayer, singing songs and confessing sins. As we read in James previously, we are to live our faith out in actions like these. It’s a perfect ending to this powerful book in God’s Word.