Want || I Want to Understand || Part 4

Welcome to the concluding part of our in-depth exploration of the concept of lust in the bible study series, ‘I Want to Understand’. Over the past three parts, we’ve delved into the nature of lust, examining its connection to jealousy, cravings, and desires. Today, we’re wrapping up the series by honing in on the essence of our wants. The definition of lust that guides our study is:

Lust is a focused passion that properly builds on what a person truly wants.

Our key text for this study is James 4:1-10, which provides valuable insights on how we can draw closer to God. Let’s take a closer look at what it says in the various translations we’ve used. (Yes, it’s a bit lengthy, but bear with me as we unpack its significance.)

James 4:1-10

AMP	1 What leads to [the unending] quarrels and conflicts among you? Do they not come from your [hedonistic] desires that wage war in your [bodily] members [fighting for control over you]? 2 You are jealous and covet [what others have] and your lust goes unfulfilled; so you murder. You are envious and cannot obtain [the object of your envy]; so you fight and battle. You do not have because you do not ask [it of God]. 3 You ask [God for something] and do not receive it, because you ask with wrong motives [out of selfishness or with an unrighteous agenda], so that [when you get what you want] you may spend it on your [hedonistic] desires. 4 You adulteresses [disloyal sinners—flirting with the world and breaking your vow to God]! Do you not know that being the world’s friend [that is, loving the things of the world] is being God’s enemy? So whoever chooses to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. 5 Or do you think that the Scripture says to no purpose that the [human] spirit which He has made to dwell in us lusts with envy? 6 But He gives us more and more grace [through the power of the Holy Spirit to defy sin and live an obedient life that reflects both our faith and our gratitude for our salvation]. Therefore, it says, “God is opposed to the proud and haughty, but [continually] gives [the gift of] grace to the humble [who turn away from self-righteousness].” 7 So submit to [the authority of] God. Resist the devil [stand firm against him] and he will flee from you. 8 Come close to God [with a contrite heart] and He will come close to you. Wash your hands, you sinners; and purify your [unfaithful] hearts, you double-minded [people]. 9 Be miserable and grieve and weep [over your sin]. Let your [foolish] laughter be turned to mourning and your [reckless] joy to gloom. 10 Humble yourselves [with an attitude of repentance and insignificance] in the presence of the Lord, and He will exalt you [He will lift you up, He will give you purpose].
NLT	1 What is causing the quarrels and fights among you? Don’t they come from the evil desires at war within you? 2 You want what you don’t have, so you scheme and kill to get it. You are jealous of what others have, but you can’t get it, so you fight and wage war to take it away from them. Yet you don’t have what you want because you don’t ask God for it. 3 And even when you ask, you don’t get it because your motives are all wrong—you want only what will give you pleasure. 4 You adulterers! Don’t you realize that friendship with the world makes you an enemy of God? I say it again: If you want to be a friend of the world, you make yourself an enemy of God. 5 Do you think the Scriptures have no meaning? They say that God is passionate that the spirit he has placed within us should be faithful to him. 6 And he gives grace generously. As the Scriptures say, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” 7 So humble yourselves before God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8 Come close to God, and God will come close to you. Wash your hands, you sinners; purify your hearts, for your loyalty is divided between God and the world. 9 Let there be tears for what you have done. Let there be sorrow and deep grief. Let there be sadness instead of laughter, and gloom instead of joy. 10 Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up in honor.
MSG	1-10 Where do you think all these appalling wars and quarrels come from? Do you think they just happen? Think again. They come about because you want your own way, and fight for it deep inside yourselves. You lust for what you don’t have and are willing to kill to get it. You want what isn’t yours and will risk violence to get your hands on it. You wouldn’t think of just asking God for it, would you? And why not? Because you know you’d be asking for what you have no right to. You’re spoiled children, each wanting your own way. You’re cheating on God. If all you want is your own way, flirting with the world every chance you get, you end up enemies of God and his way. And do you suppose God doesn’t care? The proverb has it that “he’s a fiercely jealous lover.” And what he gives in love is far better than anything else you’ll find. It’s common knowledge that “God goes against the willful proud; God gives grace to the willing humble.” So let God work his will in you. Yell a loud no to the Devil and watch him make himself scarce. Say a quiet yes to God and he’ll be there in no time. Quit dabbling in sin. Purify your inner life. Quit playing the field. Hit bottom, and cry your eyes out. The fun and games are over. Get serious, really serious. Get down on your knees before the Master; it’s the only way you’ll get on your feet.

Again, I know this is a long passage and comparison, but the comparisons are important in verse 2.

• The AMP translation looks at lust through the lenses of jealousy and covetousness.
• The NLT translation looks at lust through the lenses of want and jealousy.
• The MSG translation looks at lust through the lens of wanting something.

Want and jealousy are common themes in this passage, so let’s see how James ties this to drawing closer to God.

James says that our lustful thinking causes fights between us, which are always harmful. These conflicts come from the evil desires battling with us: we want more. We want more stuff, more money, higher status, more recognition. We often scheme ways to achieve these things when we don’t get them. It gives us a greater understanding of how coveting was forbidden through the Ten Commandments. Coveting leads people to kill or harm anyone or anything in pursuit of their desires or in frustration with unfulfilled desires. It can lead to the extreme result of murder, but James is referring to how jealousy can lead to bitter hatred and gossip. Instead of being so intent on getting what we want, we need to submit all of us to God, asking him to get rid of the things that aren’t of him and replace them with those of him. James talks about what this problem looks like:

He mentions that the most common problems that happen with prayer are:

• Not asking
• Asking for the wrong things
• Asking for the wrong reasons.

I’ve often not asked for something because “Why would God give this to me? This feels like a strange thing to ask him over. I can go and get this myself, right?” However, the counter-questions work here. “Why wouldn’t God give this to me? This feels like something I can ask him without judgment. I may not be able to get this.” Going without asking God for something shows that we know better than he does. It shows that we know our desires (often based on an emotional response) better than God (who sees our heart posture under the emotion.)

We ask for things that will help in the short term. These are often things like money, items, or something that can help raise our social status. These things will not benefit our long-term plan or God’s plan for us. They get us through a rough spot in this moment but no further. When we submit our requests to God, we can trust God’s discernment to allow and deny the things that will give us the greatest benefit over the course of our lives.

We ask for things for the wrong reasons. We want something to make someone jealous or because we’re jealous. We might want something because of the responses we’ll receive on social media. We want something that bandages a wound that we have rather than doing the work to heal properly. God wants us to live a good, fruitful life, but going about it wrong is just as offensive to God as not following him at all.

Why does James mention that it’s impossible to be a friend of the world and a friend of God simultaneously? These two paths lead in opposite directions and to very different destinations. Friendship with the world’s ways led to fights, materialism, self-centeredness, and death. Friendship with God leads to faith, hope, love, the fruit of the Spirit, and eternal life. People all over the world live successful, happy, and joyous lives. One that looks like they’d be a Christian, but they don’t believe in God. The only argument for them that falls into this line of thinking is that they wouldn’t receive eternal life. Sometimes, we get so focused on the other aspects of nonbelievers that we miss out on the superficial conversation that they wouldn’t receive eternal life.

Verse 5 can refer to the belief that because of our fallen nature, we tend to be more envious and must keep it in check. It might mean God, who puts his spirit in us, wants an intimate friendship. There’s no verse or passage that James is quoting. He’s summing up a general teaching of the scripture.

James 4:5

AMP	5 Or do you think that the Scripture says to no purpose that the [human] spirit which He has made to dwell in us lusts with envy?
NLT	5 Do you think the Scriptures have no meaning? They say that God is passionate that the spirit he has placed within us should be faithful to him.
MSG	And do you suppose God doesn’t care? The proverb has it that “he’s a fiercely jealous lover.” And what he gives in love is far better than anything else you’ll find.

Does God care? Do the scriptures have meaning to us today? Two questions we still ask ourselves today. The answer is yes to both. Many times in Scripture, it says that God is crazy about us. He didn’t create us with a spirit of envy and lust but of faith. The Holy Spirit should lead us down a path of a relationship with God. Our faith and what he gives us in response to that through his compassion is more significant than anything we can find.

What, then, could help us combat our selfish ways? We need to be humble. Kendrick Lamar had it right by telling us to sit down and be humble. Pride makes us very focused on ourselves. It leads us to believe that we deserve ANYTHING we can see, touch, or imagine. It creates a spirit of greed that goes far beyond what we truly need. We can quit this by humbling ourselves before God, realizing that the only true need is his approval. God gives us good gifts and good desires. When the Holy Spirit fills us, we see the world’s seduction as a cheap substitute for what God has to offer. If we’re honest, many CAN live below the means we’re at today, but we often choose not to because it’ll look weird to those around us, or it might be uncomfortable in the short term. Yet it is possible, and the luxuries we’ll find when we learn to live in that place can help us take care of our community and help out with different causes.

How can we humble ourselves and come close to God? I’m glad you asked because there are 5 steps in that process:

1. Humble yourselves before God.

Yield to his authority and will, commit your life to his control, and be willing to follow him. Release the control you have over your life. Your ways are lower than what God has for you, and his plans are good and give you an everlasting peace that we can not receive ourselves.

2. Resist the devil.

I know it sounds cliché, but hear me out on this. There are spiritual forces in the world that will attempt to get us to turn away from God’s way of life. It’ll appear fun, seductive, enticing, tempting, and many other things. You won’t know what’s causing that attraction to that thing, but it’s working. You’ll hear the voices in your head telling you not to go near it, but your body will continue getting closer. This is where you can resist.

3. Wash your hands and purify your hearts.

Be cleansed from sin, replacing the desire to sin with the desire to experience God’s purity. This cleansing is often associated with being baptized. It’s a public way to acknowledge that you want to put to death the earthly ways you’ve lived and turn to God’s way of life. We’ll always have the urge to sin because it’s an innate desire, but we can observe the ways and the triggers that cause us to sin. We can learn what we are and how we can turn away from those and turn to God in those moments.

4. Let there be tears for what you have done.

The transition here can bring up grief, remorse, shame, guilt, and a multitude of other emotions. We don’t need to stay in that posture for long. If your spiritual guides and leaders hold what you’ve done against you and cause you to feel ashamed or guilty because of what you’ve done, you have the wrong leaders. God forgives and forgets. The devil is what holds that stuff over our heads. Allow the emotions to occur and flow, and rest in God’s love and compassion for you.

5. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up in honor.

Realize that your worth comes from God alone. The humbling process involves leaning on his power and guidance, not our own. Although we don’t deserve God’s favor, he wants to exalt us and give us the worth and dignity he created us to have. We are not perfect creatures. The only perfect human to exist was Jesus. We all have our inner flaws and issues that cause us to sin, whether intentionally or not. Let’s put the demon of perfectionism to death and humble ourselves before God, who will care for us and provide for us in the ways he created us to do so.

That wraps up our series on lustful thinking. I hope you’ve gained a better insight into what lust is about and how it deals with more than just sex, romance, and all that. Speaking of that, though, the next series will be on what the Bible defines as sexual immorality. Spoiler alert: we’re talking about pornography and prostitution and its legalistic definition and denominational perspectives of what that is. It’s more defined and pronounced than we’ve been taught. Until then, stay blessed!