<p>1:5 <i>But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives to all liberally and without reproaching, and it shall be given him</i>- &quot;Wisdom&quot; is associated with the faith and perfection which James well anticipates his readers would complain they lacked. We have seen that the word is the source of such faith, perfection and endurance; it seems fair to equate wisdom with the word. We will see by and by that James makes frequent reference to Proverbs- and in that book wisdom is almost a synonym for the word, in the local instance the Law of Moses, upon which Proverbs is often a commentary. Again, James anticipates the natural human fear that a totally spiritual God will upbraid us for our lack of spiritual strength; but God's giving of such strength is &quot;liberal&quot;, to whoever asks. James evidently interpreted &quot;Ask, and it shall be given you&quot; (Mt. 7:7) as primarily referring to asking for spiritual strength and knowledge. Similarly &quot;...how much more shall your Father which is in Heaven give good things (&quot;the Holy Spirit&quot;, Lk. 11:13) to them that ask Him?&quot; (Mt. 7:11). These passages appear to be alluded to by James here- thus wisdom, the word, the Holy Spirit, good things, &quot;every good gift and perfect gift&quot; (1:17), God's spiritual help to overcome sin, are all equated. These things are further defined in 3:17 as resulting in peace and harmony. &quot;Reproaching&quot; can imply to taunt, to cast in the teeth. James says that <i>God</i> doesn't do that, implying some others did. No doubt he was referring to the spiritually elitist Judaizers, who would have rejoiced to mock the spiritually immature who humbly sought for spiritual strength to overcome their temptations. God expects us to crawl to Him seeking for such strength to do better. But half the time our love of true spirituality just isn't strong enough to motivate us, and we let our fear of God's holiness and righteousness make us fear His 'upbraiding'.</p>