PODCAST
God-Honoring Disagreements
November 12th, 2012
James 4:1-10
In James, chapter 4, he begins with an open-ended question, “What causes fights and quarrels among you?” Sadly, the answer is “lots of different things.” People from different backgrounds are bound to disagree. How we disagree either makes us more like the people God longs for us to be or leaves us broken and weary.
The source of this unhealthy conflict is selfishness. It’s that determination to “get my way” no matter the cost. Unfortunately, the cost of getting our way often strains relations and can even harm our relationship with God. Remember, God won’t lift up those who tear down.
James tells us that godly conflict resolution starts with submission to God. We need to worry less about getting our way and more about honoring God with our actions. People who are humble enough to put God’s good ahead of their own desires will find that he “lifts them up.”
Are you in the middle of a fight that threatens the unity of your family or church? Make sure you disagree in such a way that God is glorified and that your solution leaves room for his blessing.
November 12th, 2012 at 4:04 am
“What causes fights and quarrels among you?”
As the writer stated, selfishness does seem to be at the root of the problem. Therefore, it might be wise for us to remember that Jesus
stated in Matthew 16:24 that His disciples must “deny” themselves. In assuming that means to place God first, change our
wants to our needs, and let go of our “fleshly” desire to place me, myself, & I as number one in our life; we must rely totally on the Holy Spirit to fight our battles for us.
We have a warning in 2 Timothy 2:14 regarding quarreling about words. If two or more are disagreeing on an issue, a person overhearing them sees the bad fruit (from each), not knowing who is right. Or, they may actually hear who is right and be astonished as how they are acting. (bad example)
2 Timothy 2:14 is really in reference to dealing with false teachers. It appears that they are falsely witnessing by not living according to the rules. Consider how the world would look if the people of God had not quarreling about THE WORD. The different “words” have definitely been a stumbling block to many.