Fist bump there, Friendship Finders!
Ready your wits and widen your perspective! Today, we’re diving back into James’ lifehack handbook, as we continue to unravel the riddles of our relationships. Next stop: James 4:4-6. Fasten your seatbelts; we’re dealing with a friendship dilemma of cosmic proportions!
4You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. 5Or do you suppose it is to no purpose that the Scripture says, “He yearns jealously over the spirit that he has made to dwell in us”? 6But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”
James 4:4–6 (ESV)
James starts off with a punch, “You adulterous people, don’t you know that friendship with the world is hatred toward God?” (James 4:4). Woah, James, easy on the caffeine there! But let’s get real. He’s right. Like a die-hard football fan wearing the rival team’s jersey, we’re dabbling in the wrong friendship zone. Aligning ourselves with worldly desires is like playing for the wrong team; it’s us swapping out our loyalty to God for a cheap knockoff of earthly pursuits.
This isn’t about being a worldly recluse, folks. It’s about where we invest our loyalty and find our identity. You see, when we’re buddy-buddy with worldliness, it’s like we’re sending God the “It’s not you, it’s me” break-up text. It’s spiritual adultery, and it kindles a massive conflict with none other than the Creator Himself! It makes God the green-eyed Monster-in-law! “Do you suppose it is to no purpose that the Scripture says, “He yearns jealously over the spirit that he has made to dwell in us”?” (James 4:5).
But just when you think you’re about to drown in this friendship fiasco, James throws out a life preserver in verse 6, “But He gives more grace…’” Talk about the comeback of the century!
Here we are, flirting with worldly allure, and God’s response? More grace. It’s like being caught red-handed by your spouse on a date with someone else, and they still offer you their forgiveness and love. It’s a crazy twist that only makes sense in God’s realm. Who else would offer grace to an adulterous partner? Only God. Realizing this should knock some sense into us. We need to take a good, hard look at our alliances, and ask ourselves, “Are these more important than my relationship with God?” If the answer is yes, then it’s time for a spiritual kiss and make up.
Our goal, Friendship Finders, is to absorb this lesson, prioritize our devotion to God, and let His grace realign our alliances. When we switch from Team World to Team God, we resolve both our earthly and heavenly conflicts. The world may seem enticing, but the love and grace we receive from God is unbeatable!
In what ways can I prioritize my friendship with God over worldly alliances?
I can prioritize my friendship with God over worldly alliances by understanding who God is so that I can ensure that my friendship with Him is not invalidated by an inadvertent alliance with the world. We are surrounded by worldly alliances that on the surface can look good and enticing but understanding who God is and what He desires can help us in making the distinction that does not cause us to have enmity with God.
I suppose there are a variety of ways I can prioritize my friendship with God over worldly alliances. One would be to be sure and make time to spend in prayer and meditating upon His Word. For me, I’ve found that the best way to do this is to wake up a little earlier and do this first thing each day. That seems to give it priority over all the other things I have to do that day, and over time just becomes like second nature. After doing this for some time, it begins to seem hard to imagine not doing it! But, most importantly, it seems to me that the best way to prioritize my relationship with God is through obedience to Him. Jesus said, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments,” (John 14:15). If I love the world, I will do what it says. But if I love God, I will do what He says. None of us are perfect, for sure, but if I love God as I say I do, I will desire to honor Him in all that I think, say, and do.
Yes, it’s justifiable that we’re called adulterous people in today’s reading because after all we’re sinners and as sinners, sometimes we forget about God and focus on worldly desires. However, in order for me to prioritize God more over worldly alliance is to first spend more time reading in His words, setting time away to do my devotions and praying for God to help me be less distracted with my worldly surroundings and friendships and turn to Him more. Also, seek more accountability in our church and in our Christian community so I can get help to answer my questions that I don’t understand or just enjoy exploring about God’s word with others.
It is easy to invest our loyalty and find our identity in worldly friendships rather than God because sometimes we spend more time with our friends than with Him. It takes greater effort to hear from God daily, but I am reminded in today’s reading that only God can offer me grace and nothing is greater than His love and grace. I can prioritize my friendship with God over worldly alliances by first spending time in prayer and meditating on His Word. Then, I must remind myself that my relationship with God is my greatest priority and put effort into hearing from Him daily.
I can still prioritize my friendship with God over worldly alliances by keeping God at the center of it all. Understanding and knowing God is still the center of the universe is key here and I understand that. Being a believer does not mean I gotta drop all my relationships, I just need to know that the earthly relationships though often time are genuine can also be transactional, thats why I need to keep my gaze and focus on Christ alone.