Fighting Worldliness Within

“Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” (Jas. 4:7)

Fights and quarrels occur when we insist on our own selfish ways and not willing to give way to others. When we demand our right, and insist that our way is the only right way and refuse to take a step backward, we will end up fighting and quarrelling with others who think otherwise. The problem lies within ourselves – the carnal desires. When we lust after something, we will try all our means to obtain carnal gratification at all cost. If we still can’t get it, we will ensure that no other people get it. We will even go the breadth and length to harm and destroy it. We see plenty of such examples in the Bible. When Potiphar’s wife was unable to seduce Joseph to fulfil her lustful desires, she wanted to destroy him by accusing him of raping her. When David lusted after Bathsheba, he sent Urijah, the husband of Bathsheba to be killed in the battlefield. When Ahab coveted after the plot of vineyard of Naboth and could not get it, he had Naboth killed. Today, we have the on-gong Israel-Hamas war. Palestine did not belong wholly to the Arabs. Both the Jews and Arabs were the dwellers. The United Nation presented a two-state solution, recognizing the rights of both the Arabs and the Jews, and carving out the land of Israel as belonging to the Jews and the West Bank and Gaza belonging to the Arabs. Israel accepted this proposal and was declared as a sovereign, independent state by the United Nation on 14 May 1948. However, the Arabs rejected the United Nation’s decision and wanted to grab the whole land. Wars broke out since the day of Israel’s independence. Until today, the Arabs wanted all the land and to destroy the nation Israel. They lusted after the land. Their lust had turned to wars and fighting. How true indeed are the words of the apostle James regarding conflicts and wars! Fights and quarrels do not happen just because of a disagreement but because of the lust in us. All of us are sinners and we have a sinful nature within us. We must not let the sinful nature of lust overtake us and as a result, we end up fighting with another person. But why do Christians also fight among themselves? As believers, we can always pray to God and ask for His help (Matt. 7:7-8). James pointed out why Christians, even though they have this privilege to ask of God, and yet they are still unable to receive: “Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts” (Jas. 4:3). Our lusts affected us such that when we ask of God, we do not desire to seek His will but want God to do our will. We will never receive the blessings of such prayer because when we ask God to fulfil our lusts. Hence, our lives are in a constant conflict because of our carnal self. We are like a salmon swimming upstream, fighting the tide of lust and worldliness within us. We cannot change the fact that we are in this world, but we must also remember that we are not of the world. If there is no spiritual struggle in us, we ought to ponder whether we are striving upstream unto God or we are flowing with the tide to be swept farther and farther away from God. Our lust will draw us to the world. The Bible gives us this stern warning: “15Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.” (1John 2:15-16). If our love for the world is more than our love for God, we will have no place in our heart for God. Satan would have used your carnal lusts to turn you against God. Thus, if we want to overcome this, we must not attempt to fight Satan in our own strength. We must submit unto God and resist the devil (Jas. 4:7). When we submit ourselves to God, the devil cannot do anything us. You need not be fearful. Instead, the devil will fear you because of the Holy Spirit which is in you. Second, we are called to draw nigh unto God (Jas. 4:8). Drawing nigh to God will bring you closer to God, who is your refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. If you don’t, you are exposed to the fiery darts of the devil. Prayer is one part of the Christian armour against the devil. The safest place on earth is found to be at God’s side (Ps. 91:1-4). Finally, we are called to humble ourselves before the Lord (Jas. 4:10). Do not be proud and think that you can handle the fight without God’s help. We need to humble ourselves unto God in order to be found in the realm of grace of God. God offers us His grace freely. We certainly do not deserve it. All we can do is to accept it. However, for the grace to be effectual, we must accept it in humility. Let us face the fact that conflicts are bound to appear in our lives, as long as we are made of flesh and blood. But let not the carnal self draw us into worldliness. If we do so, we will end up losing our witness of God’s grace. The only way we can win the battle is by the grace of God. Submit to God and resist the devil, and not the other way round. Draw nigh to God in prayer as He is our refuge and strength. Greater is He who is in you then he that is in the world. Humble yourselves before God to receive His grace and to remain in His grace. HCL.