James
4:1-2 (NIV)
What
causes fights and quarrels? Don't they
come from your desires that battle within you?
You want something but you don't get it.
You kill and covet, but you cannot have what you want. You quarrel and fight. You do not have, because you do not ask
God.
The book of James is the Proverbs of the
New Testament. Both books are books of
wisdom. James is my favorite book of the
Bible because of its practicality on how to live your life with wisdom. James also is not afraid to “get into his
readers’ faces” and confront them about situations that they’ve gotten
themselves into.
These two verses give an excellent example
of the wisdom from James. He reasons
that Christians (yes, he’s writing to Christians as many times in this letter
he uses the term “my brethren”) fight and quarrel because of prideful
things. Pride produces evil desires
within people that make them want more money, more things, more recognition,
greater status, whatever self-centered people want.
The word “desires” comes from the word “epithumia”
that means to long after, to covet. This
is sin that comes within, just as Jesus said in Mark 7:15, 20 where it is the
things that proceed out of man that defile him.
Examples are given in Mark 7:21-22 that include what James is referring
to here—evil thoughts, murders, deeds of coveting, envy, pride, and all kinds
of foolishness.
These epithumia desires battle within
you. This is war between the flesh
(human nature) and spirit (God nature).
Pride in man allows the human nature to dominate and so man fights and
quarrels. Humility in man allows the
spirit nature to dominate and the spirit nature trusts in God through
prayer. God will supply all your needs
in life if you trust Him, but you must be humble to trust Him.
Reflect about your present and past and the
fights and quarrels that you have experienced.
Why did these happen? Can you see
and admit that most of the time they happened because you were not getting your
own way? Was your pride wounded? Were you jealous or envious because of what
someone else got or had that you did not?
Did you ever pause and ask for God’s serenity, for His Spirit to control
you rather than your wounded ego?
These two verses
summarize why human beings fight with one another—the focus on ME (selfishness)
and the focus on worldly things (materialism).
Simply realizing these two reasons for fighting and quarreling might go
a long way to help you stop. Someone
once said, “It takes two to quarrel, but only one to end it”. Get your eyes and heart off yourself and this
world and set them instead on the Lord.
Of course, so much easier said than done. May you seek God’s strength to become more
humble and stop fighting and quarreling.
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