I Want To Be First...

Scripture:
James 4:1-10 (NIV)

What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you? You desire but do not have, so you kill. You covet but you cannot get what you want, so you quarrel and fight. You do not have because you do not ask God. When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.

  You adulterous people, don’t you know that friendship with the world means enmity against God? Therefore, anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God. Or do you think Scripture says without reason that he jealously longs for the spirit he has caused to dwell in us? But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says: 

   “God opposes the proud
   but shows favor to the humble.” 

  Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up. 

Devotional:

What is the biggest cause of wars?  Love and Money, these two things cause more arguments and wars than anything else.  What is the root of it all?  Simply selfishness, we want what someone else has.  They also want what they have.  That is why they have it.  So people fight and argue over it.  Self centered ambitions, we think of ourselves and what we want.  At one time my father had worked for my uncle in a business.  From time to time my father had owned one or two stores that my uncle sold to him.  One of my cousins thought that she should have all the stores.  In the end my father left the business and ended up working somewhere else.  How many confrontations can you account to the desire of money, land, love or lust?  

This boils down to a simple thing, being self centered.  James really nails it in James 4.  He states that when we are self seeking we are putting ourselves in league with the world not God.  Luke 6:13 (NIV):

“No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.”

If we devote ourselves to worldly things we will separate ourselves from God.  How can we overcome our selfish desires?  We need seek to be closer to God.  When we fill our hearts with Him there will be no room for worldly things.  We need to pray continuously 1 Thessalonians 5:17.  Another way is to start thinking of others before we think of ourselves.  The second commandment that Christ gave us, Matthew 22:39 (NIV) “And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’”  In this we will think less of ourselves and more of God and others.  It may take time but by changing our focus to God we will think less of ourselves in a selfish manner.  The best place to start is by submitting ourselves to God’s will.  We need to submit to Him in all things.