We already spoke about cursing and the waste of time that really is. James in vs.12 tells us that our yes should be yes and our no should be no. This speaks directly to a need that many of us feel to add to our statements words which might provide emphasis, when in reality they just provide a lack of class. Remember that.
Do you believe in healing? The Scriptures that we have in front of us certainly do. We see Jesus heal people in a whole variety of ways. We see him not make any effort and a person just touches the hem of his robe and she is healed. We see Jesus use the method of spitting on mud and rubbing it on a person’s eyes and the man is healed. Here we see another method which is where Jesus’ brother calls upon the elders to gather together and to pray over those who are sick. We read the prayer of faith will save the sick. It is a wonderful vision of what the church should really look like with the elders of the church reaching out and going to people’s homes and healing.
There is also a strong verse found in vs.20 that whoever brings back someone to the faith who were wandering away shall be called blessed. Actually, we read that it will cover a multitude of sins. There is some great motivation there.