James 3:13–4:6

The Wisdom from Above

¹³Are there people among you who are wise and understanding? They are to prove it by their good lives, by their good deeds performed with humility and wisdom. ¹⁴But if in your heart you are jealous, bitter, and selfish, don’t sin against the truth by boasting of your wisdom. ¹⁵Such wisdom does not come down from heaven; it belongs to the world, it is unspiritual and demonic. ¹⁶Where there is jealousy and selfishness, there is also disorder and every kind of evil. ¹⁷But the wisdom from above is pure first of all; it is also peaceful, gentle, and friendly; it is full of compassion and produces a harvest of good deeds; it is free from prejudice and hypocrisy. ¹⁸And goodness is the harvest that is produced from the seeds the peacemakers plant in peace.

Friendship with the World

4Where do all the fights and quarrels among you come from? They come from your desires for pleasure, which are constantly fighting within you. ²You want things, but you cannot have them, so you are ready to kill; you strongly desire things, but you cannot get them, so you quarrel and fight. You do not have what you want because you do not ask God for it. ³And when you ask, you do not receive it, because your motives are bad; you ask for things to use for your own pleasures. ⁴Unfaithful people! Don’t you know that to be the world’s friend means to be God’s enemy? People who want to be the world’s friends make themselves God’s enemies. ⁵Don’t think that there is no truth in the scripture that says, “The spirit that God placed in us is filled with fierce desires.”^{b 6*}But the grace that God gives is even stronger. As the scripture says, “God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”