James 4:1&2 - "What is the source of quarrels and conflicts among you? Is not the source your pleasures that wage war in your members?"
Make no mistake about it, there is a war going on every day and without Christ we will lose every time - EVERY TIME! If you are in a conflict with someone it is because of this war. If you are in a quarrel with someone it it because of this war. What is the source of the fighting and difficulty? James is pretty clear about it. It is not some psychological gibberish that he is pouring out. This is God's Holy Word. James, the brother of Jesus, tell us that the source of all fighting and quarrels among us (believers) is a war that is going on inside of us where we are trying to satisfy the "pleasures" of our "members." By "members" James means the same thing Paul is talking about in Romans 6. They both mean our tongue, our ears, our sexual organs, our desire for ego gratification, our pride, our sight. Those are members. In and of themselves these members are neutral parties in the fight against evil and sin. However, sin, as our slave master, uses these members to inflict harm inside us and toward others. We desire to please our own members (desires given to the members by God) in ways that God didn't intend. So, we attempt to please a natural desire in a wrong way and that causes harm with others. There is a war going on inside of us. We need to recognize and submit to the one who can give us strength and set us free from meeting those desires in the wrong way. God is in the process of doing that through His Son. Both Paul (Romans 6:23) and James (4:7-8) give us the solution by coming to God through Christ for that freedom.
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