Know yourself

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: The epistle of Santiago provides practical advice on Christian life and behavior. James discusses the purpose of tests and adversity in our lives, which can be used to strengthen our character and bring us closer to Christ. He also delves into the nature of temptation, stating that it is not from God but rather from Satan. James breaks down the steps of temptation, which begin with our own desires or strong appetites, and can lead to sin, condemnation, and distance from God. He emphasizes that we should not blame God for our sins and that we need to resist temptation in order to receive the crown of life promised to us by God.

In James 1:13-14, James talks about temptation and how it is not from God, but rather from our own desires and weaknesses. He uses the Greek word epitumy to describe the strong desire or appetite that can lead us to sin. The enemy, Satan, studies our weaknesses and uses them to lead us to sin and destruction. It is important to know ourselves and our weaknesses so that we can strengthen ourselves against them with the help of the Holy Spirit. Self-control is essential in keeping these weaknesses under control and not allowing them to take possession of us.

We all have weaknesses, temptations, and defects, but we can keep them under control with the help of the Holy Spirit. It's important to know our weak areas and submit them to the Lord through prayer, fasting, and reading good books. Temptation is a part of being human, but we should strive to please the Lord and not give in to it. We can glorify God by being aware of our weaknesses and keeping them under control.

The epistle of Santiago is full of practical advice about life. Santiago jumps from one thing to the other because it's like having a counselor next to you who is giving you little advice about life. That's why many times he jumps from one subject to another and one necessarily sees the connection between what came before and what comes after. But there is an internal coherence that is the coherence of the pastor who is speaking to his congregation about practical things in Christian life, Christian behavior. Of course, all this inspired by the Holy Spirit because it is not just a man writing what occurs to him. There is in this epistle, in this letter, a number of truths and very necessary and very good teachings for life.

You will remember, those who were able to come to a series of studies that I gave, when I started this a few weeks ago, after that there have been so many things involved, but we were talking about the tests, remember? That the tests, the difficulties of life, the sufferings of life, the sufferings, the troubles, the reverses of life are not necessarily like something that does not make sense, but that God often allows these things in our lives to very good intentions, very benevolent.