James begins his discussion of humility by introducing us to what starts wars and conflicts in our world: seeking our own desires, lifting ourselves high (pride), lusting and coveting after what isn’t our own. You can almost see the frustration as James writes this. Every human is prone to all of these. I know I’ve been arrogant; I’ve sought out my own interests, coveted what others had. And yet here’s the human race, even believers, desiring after these things and not getting it because we think we’re too good to just ask. Instead, we force our way. We cause wars, we argue with one another, we commit immorality. Just to pursue our own happiness. James calls this adultery (v. 4). Why? Because he’s not speaking to humanity as a whole – he’s speaking to God’s people. You, and me. By seeking after what the rest of the world desires, we partner with them. Rather than holding fast to the Lord, we flip sides and befriend the sinful world. By making friends of the world, we make ourselves enemies of God. We grieve the Holy Spirit within us that longs for our devotion.
But God accepts second chances.
We are reminded of the Scripture that tells us that God will resist the proud, but he gives grace to the humble. The solution is clear. We can either remain in our arrogance and God will resist us, or we can humble ourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will show us grace.
In light of that promise, James lists practical ways to humble ourselves and partner with God:
Submit to God
This is a willing, voluntary act of choosing to obey God and to surrender to His will and authority, giving up your desire for control.
Resist the devil (and he will flee)
Here we have a promise. If we actually make an effort to resist the lies and temptations of Satan, he will flee from us. We see this play out in Matthew 4 when Jesus resists the devil by using God’s Word.Draw near to God (and He will draw near to you)
Here's another promise attached to an instruction. When we resist the devil, that makes room to draw close to God, to enjoy fellowship with Him by praying and meditating in Scriptures. And if we do draw near to Him, He will also draw near to you. It’s a two-way relationship.
Cleanse your hands and purify your hearts
Humility means balancing our worthiness and unworthiness before God. Yes, we are invited to draw near to God because of the work He did for us, but we must remember that we approach a holy God. Our unworthiness is our sin. They’ve been paid for at the cross, but to be bold in coming before His presence wearing proudly the stains His blood was shed for is a great offense. That is why we need to repent and wash ourselves with the blood. Sin hinders our prayers and relationship with God, but if we confess them and turn from them, He will forgive us and cleanse us from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9). It’s not an outward change of behavior, however. It’s not just about saying the right things or doing the right deeds. Sin is sin not wholly because of the action but because of the heart. Notice, we are to cleanse and purify our hearts, and that involves honestly examining ourselves. An inward transformation will then bleed outward and affect our behaviors.
Lament, mourn, & weep
And be serious about your sin and repentance. It’s not a joke. God wants us to be serious about our sin. We don’t play around with it just because we know He will be gracious in forgiving us afterwards. Our sins hurt Him, and it should hurt us too. Repentance means recognizing your offense and being offended because God is offended. When you put into perspective that God is the only being with a standard to measure up to, it really stinks to fall short. Whether it was a lie, a murder, or pornography, God sees it the same. And so should we.
Turn your laughter to mourning, and your joy to gloom
Come on guys, James is really drawing the point. Let's be real. We have sinned. And that isn’t something to just lightly shrug off. We can rejoice in the fact that we have Christ’s blood to atone, but we are new creatures made for holiness. Every time we fail, it’s not like we can’t start over, but it should bring us gloom. When you read Scripture, the Israelites had practices for when they sinned and repented. Outwardly, they would mourn and tear their garments and sprinkle ash over themselves. And it was meant to show the pain from the heart of offending their holy God. This is humility before the Lord, and the first step in repentance. Once we offer ourselves to the Lord, He can restore to us the joy of our salvation. But until then, we are sick. Our fellowship has been broken. Turn your laughter to mourning.
Finally,
Finally,
If you truly humble yourself in the sight of the Lord, He will lift you up.
God lowers the proud and exalts the humble. Again, humility is the heart of all of this. Genuine humility is the key to a servant worthy of his wages; of a vessel of honor prepared for every good work to the glory of the Master.
On the basis of humility, when we start seeking what God desires and stop perseverating on what we want, our relationship with others will begin to change. Now, we shouldn’t be judging our fellow believers or speaking evil of them, whether to bend the situation to our will or to point out their sin. A humble heart will recognize that I am also a sinner, and we both just need to encourage one another and point each other to the One who is holy and can make us holy. A repentant heart will sit down with a brother or sister and lovingly point out their errors in hopes for them to return to the right path. A heart set on the things above will no longer seek to manipulate others to get what they want.
It also changes the way we live life. Instead of being boastful about the things we will accomplish, we recognize that our life is just a vapor and could vanish away at any given moment. Thus, the key to life is submitting to God and doing things in the will of the Lord, acknowledging that they will only happen if God allows it.
James closes this section (at least in our English Bibles), with sort of a wake up call to action. He says that he who knows the right thing to do and does not do it, to him it is sin (James 4:17). It’s not a sin to forget to say “if the Lord wills,” but it is a sin to arrogantly ignore the warning, because that arrogance stems from your filthy heart (James 4:16).
On the basis of humility, when we start seeking what God desires and stop perseverating on what we want, our relationship with others will begin to change. Now, we shouldn’t be judging our fellow believers or speaking evil of them, whether to bend the situation to our will or to point out their sin. A humble heart will recognize that I am also a sinner, and we both just need to encourage one another and point each other to the One who is holy and can make us holy. A repentant heart will sit down with a brother or sister and lovingly point out their errors in hopes for them to return to the right path. A heart set on the things above will no longer seek to manipulate others to get what they want.
It also changes the way we live life. Instead of being boastful about the things we will accomplish, we recognize that our life is just a vapor and could vanish away at any given moment. Thus, the key to life is submitting to God and doing things in the will of the Lord, acknowledging that they will only happen if God allows it.
James closes this section (at least in our English Bibles), with sort of a wake up call to action. He says that he who knows the right thing to do and does not do it, to him it is sin (James 4:17). It’s not a sin to forget to say “if the Lord wills,” but it is a sin to arrogantly ignore the warning, because that arrogance stems from your filthy heart (James 4:16).
Written by Daniel Swaim
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