The third key piece of this opening command is the verb “consider” (ἡγήσασθε). This is a verb of thought rather than emotion. James is not commanding how one should feel, but rather how one should think about one’s circumstances.16 Thus one is to “consider” or “reckon” any given difficult circumstance as “pure joy.”17 We should have this settled attitude “whenever” (ὅταν) we “fall into” (from περιπίπτω18) trials (cf. NET). James is not instructing his readers to seek out hardships, but this is