This post is going to finish the rest of Chapter 4. There are two mini sections of it. The first is the warning of judging others, the second is about self-confidence. Again the very things that human flesh struggles with.
James 4:11-12 don’t speak evil against each other, my dear brothers and sisters. If you criticize each other and condemn each other, then you are criticizing and condemning God’s law. But you are not a judge who cam decide whether the law is right or wrong. Your job is to obey it. God alone, who made the law, can rightly judge among us. He alone has the power to save or to destroy. So what right do you have to condemn your neighbor?
Ouch! I know that was hard to hear for some. Judging = Gossiping If we try to judge others, is there love in that? Nope. And didn’t Jesus summarize the law as love for God and neighbor? Yes. When we fail to love we are breaking God’s law. Examine your attitude and actions toward others. A simple question…do you build others up or tear them down? If you catch yourself wanting to, quickly say something nice about them.
If there is no love in our hearts, we only see their faults which makes us judge (gossip) about them. This makes us not a doer of the word. Now that should make us think. James is all about being a doer of the word. There is only one judge, the one that made these laws, and He can see everything. He sees us gossiping or judging others. Again not good. So make sure there is love in that heart.
James 4:13-16 look here, you people who say, “today or tomorrow we are going to a certain town and will stay there a year. We will do business there and make a profit.” How do you know what will happen tomorrow? For your life is like the morning fog-it’s here a little while, then it’s gone. What you ought to say is, “if the Lord wants us to, we will live and do this or that.” Otherwise you will be boasting about your own plans, and all such boasting is evil.
I have to be honest, I don’t say if God willing before my plans. This is something I need to work on and be intentional. Making plans is great. Making them without God will only disappoint us. I think if putting that with the plans will help us more when bings don’t go as you want. It makes us think this plan is not ours, it’s Gods, and he will make it happen any way.
I have a hard time when my plans don’t go the way that I want them to. We need to be flexible. We need to acknowledge God is the all seeing, all knowing, before anything even happens. It’s His plans.
Also life is short. No matter the amount of years you get (again we don’t even know that). Don’t think that you have all this time left to do this or that later on. Live for God today! A few verses that shows us who knows how many years we have are Psalm 31:15, Job 12:9-10, Job 14:5, Psalm 139:16. Each one says it’s in Gods hands. He knows it all.
Our attitude toward life should be Proverbs 27:1 (don’t brag), Psalm 31:14-15 (trust him), and Psalm 39:4-5 (humble yourself).
James 4:17 remember, it is sin to know what you ought to do and then not do it.
We often think of sin as doing wrong. Breaking a commandment. At the end of chapter 4 James tells us that sin is also not doing right. It is a sin to lie, but it’s also a sin to know the truth and not tell it. It is a sin to speak evil of someone; it’s also a sin to avoid someone when you know they need your friendship. We must be willing to help wherever the Holy Spirit guides us.
Do you live your life knowing that not doing something right is also a sin? Some hard truths we just went over today. I pray that what I have typed out is able to reach those that need it. That God will open your hearts and mind to something special. And let’s keep living for Jesus 💜
Warrior for Christ 