What is causing the quarrels and fights among you? Don’t they come from the evil desires at war within you? James 4:1
In our Bible study yesterday, we talked about righteous anger. Righteous anger is anger over things that break God's heart, such as injustice, poverty, sickness, brokenness, and much more. This righteous anger should lead us to take steps to make the wrongs that we see in the world right. Unrighteous anger, however, is not productive. It often leads to sin, causing us to say or do things that we regret. If we want to respond to this type of anger we feel without sinning, we have to deal with the root of our anger. For many of us, anger is a direct result of the selfishness that is buried deep in our hearts.
James tells us that selfishness is the root of much of the anger that we face. In this passage of Scripture, James wrote, “What is causing the quarrels and fights among you? Don’t they come from the evil desires at war within you?” (verse 1). Quarrels and fights are a direct result of anger, and the cause of our anger, quarrels, and fights comes from “evil desires at war within [us].” Our anger and the sins that result from our anger come directly from inside of us. James continued his teaching in this passage of Scripture, revealing that what is inside of us is selfishness. He wrote, "You want what you don't have, so you scheme and kill to get it. You are jealous of what others have, but you can't get it, so you fight and wage war to take it away from them" (verse 2). When we are filled with selfishness and focus on only ourselves and our needs, anger is bound to erupt. This will be the cycle unless we address the selfishness inside of us.
If we want to work through the anger and sinful behavior that results from anger, we have to deal with the selfishness in our hearts. That is why James continues to write in James 4, “Humble yourselves before God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come close to God, and God will come close to you” (verses 7-8). The anecdote to anger and selfishness, according to James 4, is humility. When we draw close to God and embrace humility, selfishness and anger melt away. Even more, when we humble ourselves, God “will lift [us] up” (verse 10).
If we want to get rid of anger in our lives, we have to deal with our selfish hearts. We have to embrace humility instead of selfishness. We have to turn to God. As we deal with the selfishness inside of us, our anger will fade away.
Choose to live in humility today instead of selfishness. Look up the definition of humility in a dictionary. Commit to having a humble mindset throughout your day today. Then, ask God to help you as you seek to live humbly and let go of selfishness and anger.
James 4:1-10
1What is causing the quarrels and fights among you? Don’t they come from the evil desires at war within you? 2 You want what you don’t have, so you scheme and kill to get it. You are jealous of what others have, but you can’t get it, so you fight and wage war to take it away from them. Yet you don’t have what you want because you don’t ask God for it. 3 And even when you ask, you don’t get it because your motives are all wrong—you want only what will give you pleasure.
4 You adulterers! Don’t you realize that friendship with the world makes you an enemy of God? I say it again: If you want to be a friend of the world, you make yourself an enemy of God. 5 Do you think the Scriptures have no meaning? They say that God is passionate that the spirit he has placed within us should be faithful to him. 6 And he gives grace generously. As the Scriptures say,
“God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”
7 So humble yourselves before God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8 Come close to God, and God will come close to you. Wash your hands, you sinners; purify your hearts, for your loyalty is divided between God and the world. 9 Let there be tears for what you have done. Let there be sorrow and deep grief. Let there be sadness instead of laughter, and gloom instead of joy. 10 Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up in honor.
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