James 4

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James 4:1-3, What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you? You desire but do not have, so you kill. You covet but you cannot get what you want, so you quarrel and fight. You do not have because you do not ask God. When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.

Apparently, James is writing to a group of people who have had some pretty nasty conflicts, even possibly violent ones.  As with the previous few chapters, James is warning against community strife.  In chapter 3, James spoke of the damage that careless words can cause.  These careless words, the misuse of the tongue, can then lead to disputes and heated arguments.  We don’t know what the specific disputes were about in James’ day, but we do know and understand the damage that ugly words and violent disputes can cause in the Christian community.  It happened 2000 years ago and it still happens today.

Isn’t it ironic that people who profess a faith that so fundamentally involves loving one another, being peaceful, gentle, and joyful, can then treat each other with such malice and carelessness?  I’ve been on a church staff for 15 years now and I’ve seen people who call themselves Christ-followers be downright hateful and mean toward one another.  And oh the ugly things I’ve seen people carelessly post on Facebook! Most of the time, these disagreements were over miscommunications or relatively insignificant things.  But they have the potential to cause true damage to our Christian fellowship.  Friends, they must stop.

That being said, there are times in which we must stand up for what is right and speak truth.  But even then, we can speak the truth in love. 

Let’s pray…Lord Jesus, More of you and less of me.  In Your Name, Amen.

Starting Monday, April 18, there will be some changes to the Daily SOAP.  I will be writing/reading the SOAP on Monday-Thursday and we will have various guest writers on Friday.  Saturday and Sunday will be off days.  You can use the weekend to reread some of the week’s chapters, catch up as needed, and spend extra time in prayer.  If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to reach out to me.  Blessings to all of you, Pastor Vicki.