James 3:13–4:6

Two Kinds of Wisdom

¹³Are any of you wise and understanding? You should show it by living a good life. Wise people aren’t proud when they do good works.

¹⁴But suppose your hearts are jealous and bitter. Suppose you are concerned only about getting ahead. Don’t brag about it. Don’t say no to the truth. ¹⁵Wisdom like that doesn’t come down from heaven. It belongs to the earth. It doesn’t come from the Holy Spirit. It comes from the devil.

¹⁶Are you jealous? Are you concerned only about getting ahead? Then your life will be a mess. You will be doing all kinds of evil things.

¹⁷But the wisdom that comes from heaven is pure. That’s the most important thing about it. And that’s not all. It also loves peace. It thinks about others. It obeys. It is full of mercy and good fruit. It is fair. It doesn’t pretend to be what it is not.

¹⁸Those who make peace should plant peace like a seed. If they do, it will produce a crop of right living.

Obey God

4Why do you fight and argue among yourselves? Isn’t it because of your sinful longings? They fight inside you.

²You want something, but you can’t get it. You kill and want what others have. But you can’t have what you want. You argue and fight. You don’t have what you want, because you don’t ask God. ³When you do ask for something, you don’t receive it. Why? Because you ask for the wrong reason. You want to spend your money on your sinful pleasures.

⁴You are not faithful to God. Don’t you know that to be a friend of the world is to hate God? Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God. ⁵Don’t you know what Scripture says? The spirit that God caused to live in us wants us to belong only to God. Don’t you think Scripture has a reason for saying that? ⁶God continues to give us more grace. That’s why Scripture says,

“God opposes those who are proud.

But he gives grace to those who are not.”