Momentum-Part 10-James 4:1-12

In this practical book of James, we are seeing over and over again that God is calling us to be real. He wants us to be real in how we live out our faith. He wants us to be real in how we treat other people. He wants us to be real in how we love and care for others. He wants us to be real in how we accept others. And in today’s text, we see that He wants us to be real in the motives that we have for the things that we do.

The issue is that we are too selfish and prideful. And James bears that out here.  He calls us to make sure that the reason we’re arguing about things is because it really matters. The question he poses is this:

What is causing fighting and quarreling among you?

It’s a fair question, even today. And I think the answer is the same as it was all those years ago when James first penned this letter…it’s our own evil, selfish desires. We don’t have what we want and then we murder and covet to get what we want. We murder other people’s reputations, we murder the relationships we used to have…all because someone else has what we wanted.

Friends and Enemies

We can choose friendship with the world or friendship with God. Remember, though, that whomever we choose to be friends with automatically makes us the enemy to the other.

God wants us to be close to Him. When we do that, He’s there for us all the time. We can turn to Him even BEFORE things get bad. We can go to Him as a first resort, not a last.

As we realize where we have been, it causes us to mourn instead of rejoice because it humbles us. Which leads us to the final point:

Humility and Judgment

We are to not treat others badly by the way we talk. And we are not to judge someone else’s standing with God. When we do, we stand in judgment on the Word of God Himself. And we cannot do that. We, in essence, put ourselves in the place of God, and that’s a violation of Commandment #1!

Instead, we are to humble ourselves before God and allow Him to lift us up.

THIS IS THE WAY!