Unit 3: Faith and Wisdom in James

Hearing and Doing the Word | Bible Background • JAMES 1:19–27
Printed Text • JAMES 1:19–27 | Devotional Reading • 1 CORINTHIANS 1:26–31

AIM FOR CHANGE
By the end of the lesson, we will: REALIZE the proof of wisdom is not just in what we say, but what we do, EXPRESS compassion for those who are most vulnerable and desire to act on their behalf, and ENGAGE in ministry that demonstrates the religion that James describes.

IN FOCUS

Julian looked out the window as the car pulled away from the police station. He turned and stared at the back of his father’s head. He started to say, “Dad …?”—but caught a glimpse of his father’s face in the rear-view mirror: stern and angry. He thought better of it. His father always kept silent when he was really angry.

Julian slumped in the back seat. He and his buddies Trent, Conrad, and Vinny had gone out carousing at a bar in the neighborhood where they met Norris, an upperclassman from a rival fraternity. What began as friendly trash-talking turned into not-so-friendly insults, with Julian making the worst of them. Trent told him to back down, but Julian wouldn’t listen. Soon, the argument turned into a fight.

Julian knew how lucky he was that the worst this run-in with the police got him was a court date. He hated to think how his mom reacted when she heard he had been arrested. Julian was almost too embarrassed to breathe when he made phone call to his father to bail him out. Dad always told him to keep a cool head and to think before he spoke. “Son, people will remember you by what you say, but they will know you by what you do,” his father always said.

Julian knew what he first had to say. “Dad?” he said. “I’m sorry.

” Anger shuts down conversation and gets in the way of relationships. How do we put anger in its proper place?

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