5:12
In the Sermon on the Mount Jesus instructs us to simply let our yes be yes and our no be no (Matt 5:13-17). James echoes that command here. When we live by truth life is simple, when we live by lies it becomes increasingly complicated and corrupt. And we live in a complicated and corrupt world. This also makes it harder for us to trust God. We find it so hard to believe that when God has said He will do something, He will just do it, there is nothing complicated about it. In the world we need all sorts of guarantees, deposits etc. We need to learn to live by truth, by being truthful ourselves, and by knowing that God is completely truthful.
5:13
If we are in trouble we should pray. Of course, that is not the only time we should pray! But our first response to trouble should be to pray. If we are happy we should praise. Again, that is not the only time we should praise. We should also praise when we are in trouble. The key thing is that in all circumstances we should turn to God, indeed we should be continually turned to Him. If we are in trouble we sink into despair and we get all sorts of wrong thoughts. If things are going well we can start to become full of ourselves, not trusting in God.
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