James 4
4
Stop Fighting with Each Other
1What causes fights and quarrels among you? Aren’t they caused by the selfish desires that fight to control you? 2You want what you don’t have, so you commit murder. You’re determined to have things, but you can’t get what you want. You quarrel and fight. You don’t have the things you want, because you don’t pray for them. 3When you pray for things, you don’t get them because you want them for the wrong reason—for your own pleasure.
4You unfaithful people! Don’t you know that love for this ⌞evil⌟ world is hatred toward God? Whoever wants to be a friend of this world is an enemy of God. 5Do you think this passage means nothing? It says, “The Spirit that lives in us wants us to be his own.”
6But God shows us even more kindness.#4:6 Or “grace.” Scripture says,
“God opposes arrogant people,
but he is kind to humble people.”
7So place yourselves under God’s authority. Resist the devil, and he will run away from you. 8Come close to God, and he will come close to you. Clean up your lives, you sinners, and clear your minds, you doubters. 9Be miserable, mourn, and cry. Turn your laughter into mourning and your joy into gloom. 10Humble yourselves in the Lord’s presence. Then he will give you a high position.
Stop Slandering Each Other
11Brothers and sisters, stop slandering each other. Those who slander and judge other believers slander and judge God’s laws. If you judge God’s teachings, you are no longer following them. Instead, you are judging them. 12There is only one who creates laws and judges on the basis of them. He is able to save or destroy you. So who are you to judge your neighbor?
Don’t Brag about Your Plans for the Future
13Pay attention to this! You’re saying, “Today or tomorrow we will go into some city, stay there a year, conduct business, and make money.” 14You don’t know what will happen tomorrow. What is life? You are a mist that is seen for a moment and then disappears. 15Instead, you should say, “If the Lord wants us to, we will live and carry out our plans.” 16However, you brag because you’re arrogant. All such bragging is evil.
17Whoever knows what is right but doesn’t do it is sinning.
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GOD'S WORD® Translation ©1995, 2003, 2013, 2014, 2019, 2020 by God's Word to the Nations Mission Society. All rights reserved.
James 4
4
Give Yourselves to God
1Do you know where your fights and arguments come from? They come from the selfish desires that make war inside you. 2You want things, but you don’t get them. So you kill and are jealous of others. But you still cannot get what you want. So you argue and fight. You don’t get what you want because you don’t ask God. 3Or when you ask, you don’t receive anything, because the reason you ask is wrong. You only want to use it for your own pleasure.
4You people are not faithful to God! You should know that loving what the world has is the same as hating God. So anyone who wants to be friends with this evil world becomes God’s enemy. 5Do you think the Scriptures mean nothing? The Scriptures say, “The Spirit God made to live in us wants us only for himself.”#4:5 “The Spirit … himself” Other possible translations: “God strongly desires the spirit that he made to live in us.” Or “The spirit that he made to live in us is full of envious desires.” See Ex. 20:5. 6But the kindness God shows is greater. As the Scripture says, “God is against the proud, but he is kind to the humble.”#Quote from Prov. 3:34.
7So give yourselves to God. Stand against the devil, and he will run away from you. 8Come near to God and he will come near to you. You are sinners, so clean sin out of your lives.#4:8 so clean sin out of your lives Literally, “so wash your hands.” You are trying to follow God and the world at the same time. Make your thinking pure. 9Be sad, be sorry, and cry! Change your laughter into crying. Change your joy into sadness. 10Be humble before the Lord, and he will make you great.
You Are Not the Judge
11Brothers and sisters, don’t say anything against each other. If you criticize your brother or sister in Christ or judge them, you are criticizing and judging the law they follow. And when you are judging the law, you are not a follower of the law. You have become a judge. 12God is the one who gave us the law, and he is the Judge. He is the only one who can save and destroy. So it is not right for you to judge anyone.
Let God Plan Your Life
13Some of you say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to some city. We will stay there a year, do business, and make money.” Listen, think about this: 14You don’t know what will happen tomorrow. Your life is like a fog. You can see it for a short time, but then it goes away. 15So you should say, “If the Lord wants, we will live and do this or that.” 16But now you are proud and boast about yourself. All such boasting is wrong. 17If you fail to do what you know is right, you are sinning.
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