James 3:13-18
Grace mercy and peace are yours from God who gives you life and asks you to serve him with your life.
(James 3:13-18 NIV) "Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show it by his good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom. {14} But if you harbor bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast about it or deny the truth. {15} Such "wisdom" does not come down from heaven but is earthly, unspiritual, of the devil. {16} For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice.
{17} But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. {18} Peacemakers who sow in peace raise a harvest of righteousness."
Dear friends in Christ,
If you were to paint a picture titled “Peace” what would it look like? Perhaps it would be the picture of a quiet stream on a warm spring day or an infant sleeping on her mother’s shoulder. If you are a student of the Old Testament Scriptures maybe your thoughts would turn to Micah 4 where the Lord gives us a picture of heavenly peace with these words, (Micah 4:4 NIV) "Every man will sit under his own vine and under his own fig tree, and no one will make them afraid, for the LORD Almighty has spoken."
Isn’t this the day we are all waiting for – the day when God will come and remove us from this world of sadness and sin and bring us into everlasting peace and joy in heaven? Yes, that is the day, the day of peace that we earnestly seek. We know that our Lord will return and take us to be with him because he has worked faith in our hearts to trust in the message of peace and reconciliation with God through Christ.
What about today? How does Christian faith help us today? What effect does our Christian faith have on our attitude and actions? Today we look at the book of James and we will answer that question under this theme:
By Faith Bring Peace To Others
1. Resist the temptation to get even. (Verses 13-16)
Two weeks ago when we took our first look at the Book of James we studied the thought that runs through the book that faith without actions is dead. A person who by the grace of God has faith in their hearts will naturally show that faith by the good works they do out of love for Christ. This may sound cut and dry and easy to accomplish but as we look at our lives we know it is not. We are not only saints of God but at the same time on this earth we are sinners in need of God’s mercy and forgiveness.
The devil constantly seeks to destroy the right attitudes and actions that are fruits of our faith and build up in their place works of darkness and evil. A Christian must recognize the temptations of the devil and flee from them. James speaks to us about the temptation to get even with those who have wronged us.
Has anyone ever wronged you? Has anyone ever hurt your feelings, disappointed you, let you down when you needed them most? How did you handle it? The devil comes to you in those low moments and says to your heart, “That was mean and uncalled for what they did to you. What are you going to do about it? What are you going to do to them?” With those simple words or thoughts the temptation to get even is laid before you.
James says “if you harbor bitter envy or selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast about it or deny the truth.” When would we boast about bitter envy? How about when you are so angry with a person for getting away with something - that you know for sure you would never have gotten away with if you tried it - and so you are going to show the world how evil that person is by telling everyone how much better than them you are! Boasting in your goodness to put someone else down – that isn’t right. James says also, “don’t boast about selfish ambition.” What kind of ambition is selfish? Again, if someone wrongs you and all you can think about is revenge you have the selfish ambition of getting even. Instead of showing love and mercy to the person who has wronged you, you are out to make yourself look good. Instead of praying that they repent of their sin and seek God’s forgiveness, you pride yourself in your own goodness in the hopes that you will have the revenge in the end by looking better to the world than they do.
To the world this is wisdom, to get even for what has been done to you. It is the only right thing. Certainly you have heard of and maybe even know personally people so bent on revenge and looking out for themselves they find it impossible to find peace.
But then again we don’t have to look at others to find examples of this. Look into your own life. James says to you, “Don’t deny the truth!” This sin is in you as well. It is in all of us. Oh, how our sinful nature loves to see the wrong in others but not in ourselves. Stop running from the truth. Confess your sins to God. Repent and turn from your evil ways. When you run from what is right and chase after what is wrong your soul will not find peace.
We need the Prince of Peace in our lives every day. How thankful we are for the wisdom of God we have through faith in Jesus Christ. By faith we know that God the Father sent the Prince of Peace to the cross for our sins so that by Jesus’ perfect life, innocent death and resurrection from the dead we have peace with God. By faith you as a Christian bring peace to others by resisting the temptation of the devil and proclaiming the message of forgiveness and peace through Christ.
Instead of spreading envy and strife the Lord calls on us to live as peacemakers.
2. Live as peacemakers (Verses 17-18)
The effect that our Christian faith has on our everyday lives is clear in these words. We resist temptation instead of jumping in to it and we live as peacemakers. By faith we desire to spread peace to others through our attitude and actions.
Peace comes from God. Peace comes through faith in Jesus Christ. Peace comes from the forgiveness of sins he has graciously provided for you. You are forgiven child of God so live like a forgiven child of God. Don’t act as if nothing has changed in your life because of Christ. Don’t try to hide your faith for that is not a Christ-like action.
How do we live as peacemakers?
First, live in humility. We are redeemed sinners. There is nothing to boast about in that. We didn’t earn forgiveness. Christ did. We didn’t die on the cross. Christ did. Therefore we boast not in ourselves but in Christ who has done everything for us.
Secondly, James says, be pure, peace-loving, considerate, full of mercy and good fruit. These fruits of faith are produced by our love for Jesus. We seek good not evil for others. We are careful to watch out for the needs of others and give no thought to our own needs. We simply trust God will take care of us. When others harm us we don’t seek revenge, but strive to restore that relationship in the same way Christ has restored our relationship with him through peace and mercy.
Thirdly, we show this peace and mercy to all. James says be impartial and sincere. We don’t pick and choose who we are going to live in peace with. In all sincerity we love all others as God has loved us. We don’t tolerate sin, we call others to repentance when they sin, but we don’t hate them for their sin. We pity them. In Christian love, we seek the restoration of their relationship with God and us through repentance and forgiveness. We don’t seek revenge. We don’t sit around and sulk waiting for God to bring revenge on people. We are peacemakers who sow peace.
When we sow peace as a farmer sows seed into the ground we will reap a harvest of righteousness. What is that harvest of righteousness? God promises that our acts of peace will motivate and encourage others to act in peace. It may take time and it definitely will take the gospel working in the hearts of others and us to produce Christ-like actions but the harvest is worth the effort.
In conclusion, dear brothers and sisters in Christ, By Faith Bring Peace To Others. Don’t go back to your old sinful ways. Search your heart and know how easy it is to fall into temptation. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Live as peacemakers with others the way God lives in peace with you – through Jesus. What was your picture of peace? Picture this – your acts of Christ-like love producing a harvest of righteousness in your family, work, school, and congregation. With God’s help and through faith in Christ that picture can be your life. Amen.
The peace of God, which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds through faith in Christ Jesus.
