James 1:6-8 “…let him ask in faith, nothing doubting…” Literal Translation “…you must believe and not doubt…” NIV

A Christian is facing a spiritual trial. They are unsure what actions they should take in the midst of their testing. They ask God for wisdom. They believe God can and will answer their prayer. They believe God will give them guidance. James has a warning for them. He warns them that there are doubts that will invalidate their faith. He tells them these doubts spring forth in double-minded people. Having double-minded doubts means they can expect nothing from the Lord. Double-minded doubts will make them unstable in all that they do. They will waver back and forth like wind tossed waves.

To avoid the doubts of the double-minded a Christian must be of a single mind in all things. We must be single-minded in our motivation. A desire to please God is the driving motivation of a Christian. Righteousness, doing what is right, is pleasing to God. If a desire for profit, praise, recognition, or power becomes a strong motivation, double-mindedness results. Double-minded motives can cause us to question the value of persevering. When the going gets hard, you will waver.

A Christian needs single-minded commitment. We all have many commitments. We are committed to our family, to our jobs, and to social organizations. There is nothing wrong with these commitments. However all commitments must take second place to our commitment to God. If God’s will for our life is not number one we are double-minded. Doing what others want, will compete with doing what God wants. We will begin to doubt that we have the time or resources to be obedient. God will not be able to count on us. We will be undependable.

Christians are motivated by and committed to Christ and his will. We want to keep our lives centered in Christ. We want to be mature, complete and lacking nothing. This requires us to be single-minded. A person focused on only one thing is single-minded. Christians focus on Christ.