James 3:14 KJV [14] “But if ye have bitter envying and strife in your hearts, glory not, and lie not against the truth.”      James gives a direct command in this verse to “glory not”. The tongue loves to brag on the flesh. We must be careful to guard against lifting ourselves up. The pride of self-promotion has destroyed the testimony of many people. Several years ago, I  read a quote that said, “Pride and grace never dwell in the same place.”      Some people like to brag about how they have mistreated someone. They think that it makes that person …

James 3:13 KJV [13] “Who is a wise man and endued with knowledge among you? let him shew out of a good conversation his works with meekness of wisdom.”     Knowledge enables us to know things in part, but wisdom enables us to put those things together. For example, a man can be a genius, have a photographic memory, master computer skills, and have many intellectual abilities, but he may struggle to complete simple tasks in life. He has knowledge, but he lacks wisdom.      A knowledgeable man may speak many words but never say anything worth hearing. On the other …

James 3:12 KJV  [12]  “Can the fig tree, my brethren, bear olive berries? either a vine, figs? so can no fountain both yield salt water and fresh.”      James gives us a simple fact that we can all understand. A fountain cannot give forth two kinds of water, and a tree cannot bear two types of fruit. Whenever we drink from a fountain, we expect clear sweet water. When we plant an apple tree, we expect the tree to produce apples. These are simple facts that everyone would agree on.      The same is true about the vocabulary of the Christian. …

James 3:11 KJV [11] “Doth a fountain send forth at the same place sweet water and bitter?”      I remember as a boy going with my dad to a spring on the side of the road in the town where we lived. We would take plastic jugs and fill them to the brim with clear, cold water. It tasted very pure and refreshing, especially on a hot summer day. The spring was always faithful to give us the same clear, cold water. Recently, I was driving through my hometown, and I stopped by the spring to see if anything had changed. …