What causes fights and quarrels among you?
A junior high school boy comes home at the end of the day with a black eye and a bloody nose. His cheek is red and swollen and his hands are bruised. Trying to be secretive, he goes to his room and closes the door . . . but mom comes into his room and demands to know what happened. He replied, “The fight started when the other boy hit me back.”
We read in James 4:1-3 (NLT): “ 1 What 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.”
In Chapters 7 and 8 of the Book of Romans, Paul discusses the struggle inside us. Did you ever notice that children and adults are very much the same when it comes to this issue?
Granted, most adults don’t throw themselves on the ground and throw a tantrum (we hope), but the words are the same: “I want what I want when I want it!”
In James’ Epistle, we find three battles going on; the battle with other people, the battle within our self, and the battle we have with God. So, James asks about these battles—what is the Source of Conflict, disagreements, and Quarrels Among You?
When I was a child, I remember learning sayings and songs that taught me how the world worked and about the church and spiritual things. Here’s one about the world— see if you remember: “John and Mary up in a tree K-I-S-S-IN- G. First comes love, then come marriage, then comes baby in a baby carriage.” Did you notice the order of things? Kids learned early on how it’s supposed to be!
How about these songs? Did you learn them as a child? “Jesus Loves Me,” “Deep and Wide,” “This Little Light of Mine,” or “He’s Got the Whole World in His Hands.” Simple little songs that are filled with messages about Jesus. Another little song we sang as children was: “Jesus Loves the Little Children . . . red and yellow, black and white, they are precious in his sight.”
If we believe those little songs, why don’t we act like it? Because the problem is a heart problem. Outward behavior is always an indicator of a person’s spiritual condition. God is telling us through James that the problem of fighting, quarrelin and slander is because of self-centeredness. Instead of keeping in step with the Spirit, they are gratifying the desires of the sinful nature. More specifically, God says they are more in love with the world than they are with Him. Scripture tells us that from God’s point-of-view, if you are a friend of the world and its ways, you are an enemy of God.
Human depravity can be defined in three words: MY OWN WAY! Crooner Frank Sinatra sang about this condition in his song, I DID IT MY WAY. Furthermore, God’s Word tells us we are all born sinners. Filled with human depravity and a sinful nature. Read this carefully: “Half of our problems come from wanting our own way, the other half comes from getting it!”
What causes fights and quarrels among you? Do you build people up or tear people down?
When you are ready to criticize someone—God’s law of love says to say something good instead. “True contentment comes when we ask for things that will benefit us and others for eternity.”
Always in His Service, Pastor Ron Fellowship Church of the Nazarene