Quarrels

I've had these verses running through my head for about a week, and I'd like to share them. No particular reason other than they've been going through my head almost daily.

James 4:1-3 "What is causing the quarrels and fights among you? Don't they come from the evil desires at war within you? 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. And even when you ask, you don't get it because your motives are all wrong-you want only what will give you pleasure."

Being a deep thinker, I've been thinking about this and trying to figure out why it keeps coming to mind. I've been thinking, "Am I fighting with anyone? Is anyone offending me? Has anyone offended me to the point where I need to confront them? No. Do I know of anyone who is upset with me now? No, not that I'm aware of. What about in the past? Possibly. So I've thought about those instances where people have been upset with me and thought, "Why?" Could it be they want something I have? Hmmmm. I can't answer that. Only they can. No one know what anyone else is thinking or is like except that person himself. So I take this verse to say that quarrels and fights among us come down to selfish ambition and jealousy. I know selfishness has a huge role to play in marital difficulties a lot of times. It's a horrible thing, and something we all need to work on to rid in our lives. That's why God's word tells us to put others above ourselves and to think of others first.

Blessings on this hot, sunny Thursday.