THE WAR AGAINST THE SELF

JAMES 4:7–12

Grieve, mourn, and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom

(James 4:9).

James has been trying to arouse in us an awareness of our sin. He has discussed the evil use of the tongue and how it creates strife in our midst. He has pointed to the envy and bitterness in our hearts. He has called attention to the fact that all of this arises from our adultery from God. Now, hoping that we are “under conviction,” he calls on us to turn from our betrayal of God.

First of all, he encourages us. God wants us to draw near to Him. We are still His bride. If we draw near to Him, He will assuredly draw near to us. We may not feel it instantly, but over time our assurance of His presence will return.

Second, he tells us to repent. Repentance may involve outward acts done before men (“Wash your hands”) and certainly will involve inward changes (“Purify your hearts”). He tells us that we need to bewail our sins before God, as David did in Psalm 51. We should take ourselves in hand, and change our laughter into mourning. We need to go to war with ourselves. We need to take the time to cultivate a groaning sense of our sinfulness before God. We need to humble ourselves before Him.

Third, James tells us that if we do this, God will certainly lift us up. The only true way to see a right ambition fulfilled is to be humble before God, and let Him exalt us.

When we are once again right with God, we need to live rightly with fellow believers and, as much as possible, all people. Our hearts have caused conflicts and slander to arise. Now, we need to put away all slander. Slander involves judging our neighbors. But only God is Judge. We may need to correct something our neighbor has done, but we can only do that in a right spirit once we have become humble before God. Only when we admit that He and He alone has the right to pass judgment, will we be able to evaluate the situation rightly.

Slander violates the law of God (Lev. 19:16–17). But when we slander, we like to think that our case is an exception. James says that there are not exceptions, and that we are putting ourselves over God’s law when we make ourselves an exception. If we make ourselves gods, then God will destroy us.

CORAM DEO

1 Timothy 4–6

Can you remember the last time conviction of your sin caused you to grieve, mourn, and wail? Read and pray through Psalm 51, asking God to soften your heart, allowing yourself to be brought under conviction. Ask God’s Spirit to cut deep, exposing those areas of yourself that need His cleansing work.

For further study: Psalms 24:1–6; 51 • Ezek. 18:30–32 • 1 John 2:15–17

thursday

december