Single lesson
James 1: A Greeting from James
James 1:1; James 1:2–12; James 1:13–18
James 1:1-18 opens with James’s greeting, then teaches about trials, wisdom, endurance, humble and rich circumstances, and the difference between the testing of faith and temptation arising from human desire.
Before you teach
James addresses the twelve tribes in the Dispersion and sends greetings. In this part of the letter, he teaches believers how to view various trials, how to ask God for wisdom, what to remember about humble and rich circumstances, and how to recognise that good and perfect gifts come from God. He also warns against blaming God for temptation.
Students will be able to identify that James says trials test faith and produce endurance, wisdom should be asked from God in faith, and temptation grows from human desire while every good and perfect gift comes from God.
Welcome: James’s greeting
4 minRead James 1:1 aloud. Explain that James calls himself a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ. He writes to the twelve tribes in the Dispersion and begins with greetings. This short opening helps children see who is writing and who is being addressed before the teaching starts.
James 1:1
Read and explain: Trials test faith and wisdom is asked from God
8 minRead James 1:2-8 together. Explain James’s sequence carefully. He says to count it all joy when facing various trials because the testing of faith produces endurance. Endurance is to have its full work. If someone lacks wisdom, James says to ask God, who gives liberally and without reproach, and to ask in faith without doubting.
James 1:2, James 1:3, James 1:4, James 1:5, James 1:6, James 1:7, James 1:8
Discuss: Humble circumstances, riches, and endurance
6 minRead James 1:9-12. Help the group notice that James speaks to the brother in humble circumstances and also to the rich. He says the rich will pass away like a flower in the grass. Then James says a person is blessed who endures temptation, because after being approved he will receive the crown of life promised to those who love the Lord.
James 1:9, James 1:10, James 1:11, James 1:12
Make and respond: James contrasts human desire with God’s good gifts
8 minRead James 1:13-18 slowly. Explain that James says no one should say, 'I am tempted by God', because God tempts no one. He describes temptation as being drawn away by one’s own lust, which bears sin and then produces death. Then James points to every good and perfect gift coming from above, from the Father of lights, and to the word of truth.
James 1:13, James 1:14, James 1:15, James 1:16, James 1:17, James 1:18
Closing: Speak back a true line from James 1
4 minAsk each child to choose one short line from the passage and say or write it as a reminder. Good choices include 'let him ask of God' from James 1:5 or 'Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above' from James 1:17. Briefly review James’s flow from greeting to trials, wisdom, endurance, and God’s good gifts.
James 1:1, James 1:5, James 1:12, James 1:17, James 1:18
Questions to explore
What reason does James give for counting various trials as joy?
Follow James’s own order: he says the testing of faith produces endurance, and endurance is to have its full work.
James 1:2, James 1:3, James 1:4
What should a person do if they lack wisdom, and how should they ask?
Look for James’s command in verse 5, then notice his warning about doubting in verses 6 to 8.
James 1:5, James 1:6, James 1:7, James 1:8
How does James describe the source of temptation, and what does he say comes from above?
Compare James’s words about being drawn away by one’s own lust with his statement that every good and perfect gift is from above.
James 1:13, James 1:14, James 1:15, James 1:17, James 1:18
Make, think or respond
James 1 Reminder Card
What you’ll need
- small pieces of card or paper
- pencils or pens
- crayons or coloured pencils
Try it together
- Invite each child to choose one exact or near-exact line from the passage, such as 'let him ask of God' from James 1:5 or 'Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above' from James 1:17.
- Help them write the words and the verse reference on a card.
- Ask them to add a simple picture connected to the verse, such as a wave for James 1:6 or light for James 1:17.
- Let each child show the card and say where their line fits in James 1:1-18.
The card helps children remember James’s wording and connect one key line to the passage’s teaching about wisdom, endurance, or God’s good gifts.
Adapt for your group
- For younger children, offer two short phrase choices to copy, such as 'ask of God' or 'from above'.
- For older or more confident children, ask them to explain whether their chosen line fits with trials and testing in James 1:2-12 or with temptation and God’s gifts in James 1:13-18.
An optional closing prayer
You may pray: 'God, please help us ask you for wisdom, endure in faith, and remember that every good and perfect gift is from above. Amen.'
Read the Bible passage World English Bible Classic
James 1
1 James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes which are in the Dispersion: Greetings.
2 Count it all joy, my brothers, when you fall into various temptations,
3 knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance.
4 Let endurance have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.
5 But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him.
6 But let him ask in faith, without any doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, driven by the wind and tossed.
7 For that man shouldn’t think that he will receive anything from the Lord.
8 He is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.
9 Let the brother in humble circumstances glory in his high position;
10 and the rich, in that he is made humble, because like the flower in the grass, he will pass away.
11 For the sun arises with the scorching wind and withers the grass; and the flower in it falls, and the beauty of its appearance perishes. So the rich man will also fade away in his pursuits.
12 Blessed is a person who endures temptation, for when he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord promised to those who love him.
13 Let no man say when he is tempted, “I am tempted by God,” for God can’t be tempted by evil, and he himself tempts no one.
14 But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own lust and enticed.
15 Then the lust, when it has conceived, bears sin. The sin, when it is full grown, produces death.
16 Don’t be deceived, my beloved brothers.
17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom can be no variation nor turning shadow.
18 Of his own will he gave birth to us by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of first fruits of his creatures.
World English Bible Classic. Public domain.