Being Led by Your Passions

[Sue J Love]

“What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you? You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions. You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.

“Or do you suppose it is to no purpose that the Scripture says, ‘He yearns jealously over the spirit that he has made to dwell in us’? But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, ‘God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.’ Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Be wretched and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.” (James 4:1-10 ESV)

As followers of Jesus Christ we are not to fight among ourselves. And this is not saying that we cannot disagree with each other over anything, or that we cannot defend our own position or ourselves against others who may accuse us falsely of what we did not do or say, but that we should do so with grace, not in harshness and meanness, and not trading “tit for tat” in order to get even with those who oppose us. For we should be people of peace.

But peace should never be about compromising on the essentials in order to get along with others. We should never back down on the essentials of the gospel message regarding sin and repentance and obedience and holy living. And we should never compromise with the world just to be liked or accepted and in order to avoid persecution. So it isn’t that we just lay down and die in order to avoid conflict, but that we do our best to handle conflict with grace.

So why do some people deliberately pick fights with others? I mean there are some who just like to pick a fight. But speaking the truth in love to others is not picking a fight. Confronting lies and deception and comparing that against the truth of God’s word doesn’t have to be done with the object to pick a fight and to stir up conflict. Hopefully the purpose is more to get people to think about what they are believing and whether it is true or not.

So why are some people drawn to picking fights with others? According to this passage of Scripture it has to do with the passions that are at war within them, that they lust after and covet what others have but that they do not have. Or perhaps it is about resenting what others have, for it is an offense to them. And so their flesh desires to destroy the other people in hopes to no longer be faced with that offense, kind of like the people did to Jesus.

Their motives are selfishness and pride and envy, and so they do not ask God. Or even if they do ask God, they ask with the wrong motives to spend whatever it is they want on their own fleshly passions and desires. So this isn’t about God or serving him or doing what is right in the eyes of the Lord, but it is all for them and for what their flesh desires. And if their flesh does not get what they want, they take it out on other people by picking fights.

So, the message to them from James (via the Holy Spirit) was to say to them, “You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. Or do you suppose it is to no purpose that the Scripture says, ‘He yearns jealously over the spirit that he has made to dwell in us’?” For we are to serve God with our lives, not the flesh.

So, we need to be those who consider our attitudes, our thinking, our words, and our actions against the teachings of the Scriptures and the character of God, asking the Lord to show us where we are off course, and where our hearts are not in the right place, so that we don’t end up going the wrong direction, but so that we end up following the leading of the Spirit within us in loving other humans with the love of God which causes no intended harm.

It is the devil (Satan) who wants us continually at each other’s throats, fighting sometimes over things that don’t even really exist, if truth be told. He is the one who tempts us toward selfish motives and tries to convince us that having our own way is what will make us happy. But we need to humble ourselves before the Lord and the Lord will give us the grace to handle these difficult situations in our lives so that we don’t explode and regret it later.

So we must be those who submit ourselves to the Lord, and who resist the devil and his temptations to respond in the flesh. And we must draw near to God in prayer and in humility and in seeking his counsel and wisdom in how to respond when we are being criticized and opposed by others. And if we are the ones guilty of wrongdoing we need to turn from those sins and apologize to those we have wronged and not be double-minded hypocrites.

Then we need to make it our practice to respond to all opposition with grace, with reason, and with wisdom. And we must resist any temptation to blow up and to say things we should not have said. And this is not saying that we will always do this with absolute perfection, but this should be our goal and our practice to treat others as we want to be treated. And we should keep growing in the grace of the Lord and in love for our fellow humans.

In Harmony

An Original Work / September 2, 2012
Based off Ro. 12:9-21; 1 Pet. 3:8-17

Love each other truly.
Cling to what is good.
Hate all that is evil.
Never lack in zeal.
Serve the Lord with fervor.
Joyful in hope be;
Patient in affliction;
Praying faithfully.
Honor one another.
Live in harmony.

Share with all God’s people
Who are found in need.
Do not be conceited.
Sympathetic be.
Love, and show compassion
In humility.
Keep your tongue from evil.
Peaceful you must be.
Honor one another.
Live in harmony.

God sees who are righteous;
Listens to their prayers.
But He’s against evil –
Is His to avenge.
Do not fear what they fear.
Suffer patiently.
In your hearts, make Christ Lord.
Serve Him faithfully.
Honor one another.
Live in harmony.