In verse 4 James gives us the final result of being patient-that we will be perfect and complete. Is he saying that if we stick it out we will become perfect and never sin again? Of course not. What it means is that through each trial you will learn more and more about God and start to trust in Him more easily. It means you will be more like Christ than you were before. It means your faith will have increased and that you have become more patient in trials.

But you must always remember. This thing we call "sanctification" or the process of becoming like Jesus is a lifelong process. God has many lessons to teach us and each one is very important. He doesn't want any of His children to miss out the blessings that He gives through His grace and strength.

Maybe you're thinking-"but what if I wimp out? What if I don't have patience? What if I don't let God do His work in me-what then?"

This too is a valuable lesson. We are all sinful. We are all afraid to go through trials because we don't like being in those type of situations. And at one time or another we will take the backdoor out of a trial and "wimp out". But the good news is this-Jesus NEVER WIMPED OUT!! He went through every trial God gave Him-even suffering on the cross. He went through every bad situation and pleased God in each and every one.

When we realize that Jesus died for us and trust in Him for our forgiveness, not only does He take away our sins, but He gives us HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS!! This means that God sees us as if WE never wimped out. God sees us as if we stuck it out through every trial because Jesus did it for us. Talk about a reason to have joy! Either way we are blessed. If we persevere, we learn patience and endurance. If we wimp out, we still have the righteousness of Christ credited to us.