“But if you harbor bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast about it or deny the truth. Such ‘wisdom’ does not come down from heaven but is earthly, unspiritual, of the devil. For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice.” (James 3:14-16)
Here’s what you’ve got to do if you want to get ahead in the world. Look around. Decide what you want out of life. Who do you want to be? What do you want to have? What experiences do you dream of? Put those together, and make your plan to get it all. Work hard. Sacrifice. And live your dreams!
Does that paragraph sound familiar? We’ve heard it so often, it just sounds like common sense, doesn’t it? And it is a kind of wisdom. But James called it an earth-bound, spiritually dead, Satanic wisdom. Any wisdom that is focused on me getting what I want most of out life is a false wisdom. It turns my desires into my gods.
The result of that wisdom is “bitter envy.” Or, “I won’t be happy until I have what he has.” And “selfish ambition.” Or, “I won’t be happy until I get everything I want — and I want everything.” That wisdom always leads to a life of chaos drenched in sin.
Think: Are you attracted to this false wisdom of serving yourself to get what you want? Most of us are. What can we do about it?
Pray: Ask God to help you spot this false wisdom in your life and to know how to kill it dead.
Do: Read Proverbs 13