“1What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you? 2You 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. 3You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions. 4You 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.” ~ James 4:1-4
This begins by addressing that our passions and our desires are at war within us because we want what the world is offering, yet still want what God is offering. Then when our desires feel overwhelming, we put God to the side and go after our desires. We do anything to achieve the desires of our heart when in reality God will give you the desires of your heart if you ask correctly.
We have this idea that God will change His law to appease our desires, but that is not the case. We want worldly things to satisfy our flesh. It’s like you’re thirsty and instead of asking for water we ask for poison. God is saying that we are wasting our prayers and our time on worldly things that will not last. We ask for things out of envy and jealousy, we must have what they have, just better. God is saying that’s silly, we should be proud and happy for them. Every day our flesh and Spirit are in conflict, they’re at war, but we must crucify our Flesh every day. Genesis 4:7 tells us, “If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is contrary to you, but you must rule over it.”
We have to separate ourselves from the world so that our desires will not be of the world. So that our desires will be of God. So that our desires will follow God’s plan. Yes, we are supposed to go out into the world and witness and make disciples, but we aren’t supposed to become a part of the world. Why? Because we are the salt of the Earth, and what good is salt if it loses its saltiness? Jesus said in John 15:19, “If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.” We aren’t of the world because we were chosen out of the world, we can’t act as the world acts. We have to check our desires so that our desires don’t lead us astray, but instead, lead us closer to God.
Peace. Love. Go Forth and Check Your Desires.
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