When I read the book of James, I sometimes feel as though a ping-pong player is slapping me on both sides of my face with his paddle. I say, “Ouch!” “Yikes!” “Wheew…” and I hang my head in shame. Yes, shame. I feel shame and contrition when the truth of God’s Word slices my soul. It hurts. It scalds. It heals. The heart’s reaction to the divine revelation of God is sometimes paradoxical in my own life. I feel conviction. I feel sorrow. I feel sadness over my sin—but I also feel hope, joy, peace, and forgiveness all at the same time. Only God, in His divine complexity, can allow me to experience these myriad feelings simultaneously. That is the power of the Word. It is living. It brings change when the Holy Spirit enlightens the soul of the reader. The reader will either be touched deeply and yield to truth or walk away unchanged. This is absolutely true when one reads the book of James. James is bold and declarative in his exposition. He does not mince words. He speaks boldly and decisively. Look with me at James 3:13-16.

•  13 Who is wise and understanding among you? By his good conduct he should show his works done in the gentleness that wisdom brings. 14 But if you have bitter jealousy and selfishness in your hearts, do not boast and tell lies against the truth.  15 Such wisdom does not come from above but is earthly, natural, demonic.  16 For where there is jealousy and selfishness, there is disorder and every evil practice.

We see here that a Christ-follower must exude good behavior in meekness. It is hard to give a succinct definition of “good behavior.” You know it when you see it; the same is true of its reverse. Regardless of the age in which you live, some things are just plain uncouth and are frowned upon by polite society. You cannot wallow in debauchery and declare that you have godly wisdom. Wisdom dictates our lifestyle. Indeed, a Christian must have a certain amount of wisdom in order for his verbal profession to be true. It is wisdom that allows you to live out your walk in humility, meekness, and faithfulness. The wisdom that James is referring to is the wisdom to produce good works in faithful humility. It is the wisdom that God gives to those who ask for it.

However, the antithesis to wisdom is “jealousy and selfishness.” One can also infer that envy and the like, would be present as well. James points out that if jealousy and selfishness is present in one’s life, there is also “disorder and every evil practice.” Doesn’t this just make you want to place your hand over your heart as you ask God to guard it most securely from evil deeds? When you read James’ exhortation, you are pulled out of slumber. It gets your attention.

I know of a church where there is much unrest. The pastor lords it over his small flock by promoting and demoting different ones at will. I was told that one young woman was stripped of her post because of a mistake she made. It did not involve sex, lying, stealing or anything that is blatantly willful. She just made an error for which she asked for forgiveness. However, this pastor told her that he does not believe her and refuses to speak with her at times. I was told that she said “hello” to him and he ignored her. This particular church has had many of its members leave over the years. There are frequent clashes between different people, and unrest is a constant there. I thought of this local congregation when I read this verse. Indeed, where there is jealousy, bickering, and name-calling there is much unrest, and Satan has secured a seating place there.

I am sure that there have been times when you have said, “I wish that were me!” I have said that from time to time as I’ve thumbed through magazines or read stories of people who have inherited good fortune. But, I do not dwell on those things. I do not muse on them. I do not spend hours wondering how I can walk in those shoes. That is where the danger lies. We must become satisfied with the lives we have. That is not to say that we must not work to improve our lives or attain what we desire (e.g., a nice house, nice things, etc.), but we must guard against wanting to abandon our life so that we can live another. If we are wise, we must recognize that the things we have, have been given by God and are blessings from His hand—and we must be very thankful. To set our hearts on what belongs to another person, is to say, “God, what You have given is not enough. I don’t want what You have given me. I want more.” And, if you take that thought process and pursue that path, you will surely destroy your life. You will invite chaos into your world and your heart will be in turmoil.

Too often, there is unrest among brothers and sisters, mothers and daughters, friends, co-workers, students and teachers, and the list goes on. Why? That is not to be if we, as Christians, live in wisdom. If you are jealous of someone, abandon it now! There is no need to want what that person has. You are not sure how she has obtained the coveted possession, and you may not be able to handle it, should you obtain it.

My friend recently offered her brightly colored connure to my husband and me. It was somewhat of a Christmas present. She had bought the bird for her son to enjoy, but then she found out she was allergic to it. After much thought and sadness, she begged us to take her feathered friend into our home. My husband, being an avid bird watcher/lover, was ecstatic. First, the bird is absolutely beautiful, and is also very playful and tame. Plus, he came with two cages furnished with the best of bird toys and treats. Who could ask for more…right! Wrong. After about a month, I began to complain. The bird made a lot of messes, bathes in its water, poops a lot, drops seeds outside of the cage, and gets an attitude if he is not petted regularly. Vacuuming has become a daily chore and washing the food bowls has lost its lure. All of a sudden, my little parakeets do not seem like a step-down from this parrot. I grew up with parrots, but my grandfather always took care of them, so all I had to do was admire them. I realized that when I had seen parrots in the pet shop and said, “I wish I could have one,” I had no idea what I was asking for. Now that I have one, I know that owning one and keeping my house clean at the same time, require more work than I had imagined. So it is with other things. Before you want what your girlfriend has or wish you could have the job your buddy has, thank God for what you have.

Things are not always as they appear. Don’t make a habit of wishing for things arbitrarily. Pray and ask God to furnish you with what He wants you to have. Work hard to attain your heart’s desires, but make sure those desires are pure, and don’t sell your soul just to have things. For where there is jealousy, there is also selfishness, envy, unrest, and disorder. Thank God for what He has given to you and enjoy where you are.