Desires

So, there’s a lot of talk about finding ways to unite us as a country lately, right? I mean, from country songs to formal speeches to memes on Facebook, it seems as though many of us are ready to heal the wounds in our nation. And that’s great. Biblical even. However, not to put a damper on this united spirit, I worry about our resolve.
And what I mean by that is often we want it to be someone else’s fault, so we just expect them to change and it’ll all be fine. We blame the rioters. We blame Trump. We blame Biden. We blame other politicians. We blame the teacher. We blame the parents. We blame the leaders. We blame the followers. We blame the left. We blame the right. We blame the too loud. We blame the too quiet. If only he. If only she. If only they. If everyone just did what I did, then it’d be fine. We’d be united because then I wouldn’t have to change. It’s everyone else’s fault and I’m just a victim. However, as long as we remain the victim we lose our own free will.
Sorry, that’s a little depressing. And I blame often myself. And I read this week that we often find ways to ignore or rationalize away conflict because we, especially Christians, think it’s wrong. The author writes, “Nobody likes conflict. Yet conflict is everywhere-from law courts to workplaces to classrooms to neighborhoods to marriages to parenting our children to close friendships to when someone has spoken or acted toward you inappropriately.” (Scazzero) And that’s a true sentiment, except I think he stops short of getting to the heart of conflict – our own hearts.
How many of us have conflict in our own hearts? We argue with ourselves about thoughts we have. We have trouble making decisions. We are embarrassed by our choices or our attitudes. We don’t like the choices we’ve made. James writes in 4.1, “What is causing the quarrels and fights among you? Don’t they come from the evil desires at war within you?” (NLT) Those ‘evil desires’ really means our own pleasure, which, to me, are ultimately things we lust after. It goes beyond a simple desire, it’s almost an addiction.
So what causes fights, quarrels and division among us? It’s me. It’s you. It’s each individually pursuing their own pleasures in life. So how do we resolve our conflicts? Well, first, I think we need to address that addiction in our own heart. We need to find ways to figure out how to have peace in our own heart and mind, to settle the war within us, before we can heal as a nation.
I pray that we can find ways to have peace within our own hearts so that we can find greater unity in our world. God bless.