“But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him. But he must ask in faith without any doubting, for the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind. For that man ought not to expect that he will receive anything from the Lord, being a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.” (James 1:5-8 NASB1995)
What is wisdom? It isn’t just knowledge, for there are a lot of people who have heads full of knowledge who do not exercise wisdom. For me, wisdom has always been applied knowledge, i.e. putting the head knowledge we have into practice, but the right kind of knowledge. So wisdom is exercising common sense and good judgment. And it is not just speaking the truth, but it is applying the truth to our daily lives. And it is seeking the counsel of God to make good, sound, and right decisions, which are well prayed over.
So, if we are lacking in wisdom, and so we ask God for wisdom, we need to mean it. We need to be sincere in our requests. And we should not be asking God for wisdom and then wait for him to respond before we decide whether or not we will accept his counsel. And asking God for wisdom is not to be some ritual we go through to give an appearance of seeking after God if we are not going to listen to what God has to say anyway. And there are people who do that, who say they prayed, but who then reject God’s counsel.
And that is called being “double-minded.” And that is like being on both sides of opposite ends of a see-saw (teeter-totter) going up and down in thought or belief or opinion. For to teeter is to stagger, to wobble, to waver, to sway, to falter, to vacillate, and/or to hesitate. And to totter is to falter, to stumble, and to flounder. And from a spiritual perspective that can mean to sin. For it has to do with not being steady in faith or in practice, but with vacillating back and forth between living for sin and for self and claiming faith in Jesus.
What this passage teaches us is that if we are those who “teeter-totter” as a matter of practice, and so we vacillate in belief and practice on a habitual basis, and so we pray for God’s counsel, but while we may decide not to take God’s counsel, that we are the double-minded, unstable in all our ways, who will not receive anything from the Lord. And I believe this includes salvation from sin and eternal life with God, too. For the double-minded are of two minds going back and forth between God and their sin, which is not of God.
For Jesus Christ taught that to come to him we must deny self, take up our cross daily (die daily to sin), and follow (obey) him. For if we hold on to living in sin and for self, we will lose our lives for eternity. But if we deny self, die daily to sin, by the Spirit, and we walk in obedience to our Lord and to his commands, in his power, then we have eternal life with God. For not everyone who calls him “Lord” will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one DOING (obeying) the will of God (see Luke 9:23-26; Matthew 7:21-23).
For by God-gifted faith in Jesus Christ, which is not of our own doing, we are crucified with Christ in death to sin and raised with Christ to walk in newness of life in him, no longer to live as slaves to sin but as slaves to righteousness in walks of obedience to God’s commands. We are no longer to permit sin to reign in our mortal bodies to make us obey its desires. For if sin is what we obey, it results in death. But if obedience to God is what we obey, it results in sanctification, and its end is eternal life with God (see Romans 6:1-23).
[Matthew 7:13-14,21-23; Luke 9:23-26; John 10:27-30; Acts 26:18; Romans 1:18-32; Romans 2:5-10; Romans 3:23; Romans 6:1-23; Romans 8:1-14; Romans 12:1-2; 1 Corinthians 6:9-10,19-20; 1 Corinthians 10:1-22; 2 Corinthians 5:10,15,21; Galatians 5:16-24; Ephesians 2:8-10; Ephesians 4:17-32; Ephesians 5:3-6; Titus 2:11-14; Hebrews 3:1-19; Hebrews 4:1-13; Hebrews 10:19-39; Hebrews 12:1-2; 1 Peter 2:24; 1 John 1:1-10; 1 John 2:3-6; 1 John 3:4-10; Revelation 2:1-29; Revelation 3:1-22]
So, don’t take God’s grace for granted. Don’t see God as a Genie in the sky just there to grant you your every request, regardless of how you treat him. Believe God and what he teaches us that faith which comes from God will result in us denying self, dying to sin, and following our Lord in obedience to his commands, in practice, or it is not biblical faith which saves. This does not make us perfect (1 John 2:1-2), but if sin is our practice, and not obedience to God, we do not have the hope of eternal life with God.
Broken Cord
An Original Work / August 29, 2018
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love
Your bond is broken with your Lord and Savior
And your testimony is separate from Him.
Your words not matching your actions today.
Repent of your sin and bow down and pray.
Live what you testify in truth always.
Purity’s lacking in your life and witness,
For you profess one thing, but other you do.
Not moral, spiritual. Still of the flesh.
Not living in truth to what you confess.
Lying about it puts you in a mess.
Living a lie is your practice, ‘tis true of you.
Masquerade righteousness – none of it true.
Your heart is not given to your Lord God.
Because of how you live, you are a fraud.
Turn from your sin and give your life to God.
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Being Double-Minded
An Original Work / January 20, 2026
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love
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