James 4:1–12
We continue with the study of the epistles, or the letters of the apostles, and we are in the letter of James, from which we just read the fourth chapter. We finished the first three chapters in previous Sundays, and now we are coming to the close of the book of James. It’s just five chapters, so we’ll finish it next week.
James gives us practical wisdom to live—not advice, but practical wisdom—to live out our lives on a Christian path. In the beginning, we talked about how faith without works is dead. That’s his basic theme: we must show our faith through our works. Then we discussed how our actions display our witness to the Lord. He also talked about our tongue—not only our actions but also our words display who we are. Both are important, and we’ve talked about that in previous Sundays.
Here, he’s talking about the divisions we have as people when we live together in community. It happens everywhere—not just in church, not only in social gatherings. It happens in politics a lot. We have quarrels and fights everywhere, in every aspect of our lives. Even in our homes and families, we have quarrels and fights.
“What causes fights and quarrels among you?” That’s what he asks in this first verse. What is the cause of quarrels, divisions, and fights?
When we look at the reasons or the sources of quarrels and fights, many times we refuse to look at ourselves first. That’s basically what he’s telling us: they come from desires and battles within us. Whenever we have issues with someone, it’s always the other person’s fault, right? If you’re in an accident, it’s always the other person’s fault. If you have problems in your life—say, with addiction or habits—you might blame your parents: “My parents were alcohol users or drug addicts,” so you become a victim of circumstances.
Or think about when you go to work. Some of the funny excuses people make: one guy arrived late for work and said, “I’m late because the coffee maker was slow.” So—blame it on the coffee maker! Another guy came late every day. One day his boss stopped him and said, “Do you know what time we start work here?” He replied, “No sir, they’re all at work when I get here.”
It’s always the other person’s fault, right? Such people are called blame shifters. I mean, I’m part of that too—I don’t know about you. We all try to find a scapegoat so we don’t feel responsible for what happened.
Like I said, accidents happen all the time on the streets. Some of the funny things people told their attorneys—I read a list once, and it was hilarious: “The telephone pole was approaching me so fast I attempted to swerve, but it hit me anyway.” Or, “The guy was all over the road. I had to swerve around a number of times before I hit him again.”
These are the things people say to deflect responsibility. You’ve heard the famous saying, “The devil made me do it.” That didn’t start recently—it started in the Garden of Eden. Right from the beginning, when God made man and woman and placed them in the garden to tend it and keep it, to live in love with God, the devil came as a serpent. You know the story—they ate the forbidden fruit because the devil tempted them.
When God came and questioned them—“Adam, why did you do that?”—Adam said, “The woman you gave me made me do it.” Then the woman said, “The serpent made me do it.” So “The devil made me do it” started from there.
None of us wants to take responsibility for anything bad around us. That’s what James is saying. Our fights, quarrels, and divisions don’t come from the outside—they come from within. When we refuse to take responsibility for our situations and try to blame others, we’re deflecting the problem; we’re running away from it.
When I started working on this message, I thought about the forest—the animal kingdom. You know how animals live in the forest? Some kill others for food, but they have a system of harmony. Otherwise, none of them would survive. They don’t hate each other. The lion doesn’t hate the deer—it kills for food, and when it’s full, it stops. One tree doesn’t hate another tree because it’s more beautiful.
But human beings—we do that. We hate someone because they’re more beautiful, wealthier, or have something we don’t. The animals and trees don’t do that. The whole ecosystem outside of humans works in harmony. In some forests, tree roots intertwine under the soil, so when a storm comes, they hold each other up.
That’s reality in the forest system. God created everything beautifully, and it all works exactly as He intended—except us. God made us in His image and gave us free will, and we messed it up. That’s what causes divisions and quarrels.
The forest teaches us a lesson of coexistence. It’s not just about competition—it’s about connection. We need each other. Harmony is possible when we learn to live with one another, just as the animals do. Everything in nature knows its place, purpose, and peace. But when it comes to humans, we find chaos, conflict, and destruction. Even as other systems thrive in unity, we divide ourselves. Why is that so?
Mark Twain once said—I think I’ve shared this before—“I built a cage and put in a dog and a cat together. After a little training, they lived peaceably together. Then I introduced a pig, a goat, a kangaroo, some birds, and a monkey. After a few adjustments, they learned to live in harmony. So encouraged was I that I decided to add two humans into the cage. And in a very short time, there was not a single living thing left in the cage.”
It’s a joke, but it’s true—we know how to mess up what’s beautifully set up. A good family can be torn apart by one person—and it’s usually from the inside.
So, we must look within ourselves. God wanted us to be peaceful, loving, caring, and compassionate—made in His image to live peaceably together. But we don’t seem able to do that. Fights, quarrels, and wars are killing millions even now.
When will we get out of this?
Until we find peace within ourselves—until we look inside and ask, “What is my role in these divisions?”—we won’t find peace. Hatred, terrorism, murder—all are symptoms of a deeper disease within our hearts: sin, and the loss of love because of sin.
James gives us a bold answer: the problem is not outside—it’s inside. When God created everything, remember, He rested after each creation because it was good. But someone once joked that after He created Adam and then Eve, He never rested again!
God gave us partners to live harmoniously with, but when they violated His principles, creation was cursed. Yet God did not give up on us. He gave us His love again through His Son, sending Jesus to redeem us.
James isn’t saying it’s hopeless—he’s saying there’s hope, because God doesn’t forsake us. Marriage, for example, is a beautiful symbol of harmonious living. But is that what happens? More than 50% end in divorce because we cannot get along. We cannot give and take respect.
Statistics say first marriages fail 43% of the time, second marriages 60%, and third marriages 73%. So maybe it’s better to stop after one! Where’s the problem? Is it the other person—or ourselves? Usually, it’s ourselves. I’m not condemning anyone—that’s just reality. Thank God for the marriages that last, whether first, second, or third. But we’ve become a selfish generation, extremely intolerant of each other. To abandon a partner in sickness or struggle—that’s something even animals don’t do.
If we marry for selfish reasons, the marriage will fail. “In sickness and in health, for richer or poorer, for better or worse, till death do us part.” That’s what we pledge. Yet people find simple reasons for divorce—things that could easily be worked out. When we don’t value relationships as we should, society falls apart. The source of conflict is our selfish desires. James says, “You desire but do not have, so you kill. You covet but 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.”
The problem is that friendship with the world comes first. That sounds harsh, but it’s the truth spoken in love. When we chase worldly desires—power, pride, pleasure, possessions—we become unfaithful to God, and when we’re unfaithful to God, we become unfaithful to one another. God’s standard is the opposite of the world’s. The world says, “Exalt yourself, get all you can.” God says, “Humble yourself, and I will lift you up.” The cure for this problem is humility before God.
It’s not about winning arguments or proving others wrong—it’s about humility before God and others. When we draw near to God, He softens our hearts. When we confess our sins, He cleanses us. When we humble ourselves, He restores us. Humility turns division into reconciliation. Submission turns chaos into peace. Repentance turns distance into closeness.
There’s a story of two brothers who grew up together on a farm—very close. When they married and had families, they lived in harmony. But one day, a small argument between their wives grew and escalated, and the brothers stopped speaking. One morning the older brother hired a carpenter. He said, “Build me a house on the other side of our land and a fence between us so we can move on without speaking.” The carpenter, knowing their history, built the house—but instead of a fence, he also built a bridge across the two properties. When the younger brother saw it, he said, “My brother still loves me,” and went to embrace him. That’s how humility restores relationships.
It’s not about fences—it’s about bridges. We talk about fences all the time, but we need more bridges. “Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brothers to dwell together in unity,” says the psalmist. Paul teaches in Colossians, “Clothe yourselves with love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which you were called in one body.”
So, let us look within ourselves and see where we need humility—before God and others. There is no place for hatred in the Christian faith. We are called to love everyone, even our enemies. May the good Lord bless us with these words as we go from this place to show His love, care, compassion, and humility—before God and before others—so that we may live in a harmonious and peaceful society.
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