“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.” (James 4:1–2 NLT)

 

Sometimes in spiritual battle the devil will tempt us with things we’ve never experienced before. Because they’re new to us, we may not understand fully the damage they can cause. In other words, our enemy exploits our inexperience.

Other times, the devil uses desires and impulses that are so familiar to us and such an integral part of who we are that—again—we may not understand fully the damage they can cause. In other words, our enemy exploits our blind spots.

Selfishness falls squarely into the second category. Think about the problems you deal with on a regular basis—the things that get you into trouble time and time again. How many of them stem from selfish desires? How many of the things that you struggle with have selfishness at their root? How often does the devil exploit your selfish impulses for his own gain?

James wrote, “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” (James 4:1–2 NLT). In other words, “You want your own way.”

You can see this impulse even in little children. Have you ever noticed that when two children are playing, one child will ignore a certain toy until the moment the other child picks it up? Suddenly both children want it. They scream and pull, trying to wrest it away from one another. Sometimes they’ll destroy the toy in the process—all because one child wants what the other has. That’s just human nature. We’re born that way, and we carry that trait with us through life, causing countless problems along the way.

Marriages fall apart, by and large, because of selfishness. People have sex before marriage because of selfishness. People commit adultery because of selfishness. Name a problem in our society today, and chances are you’ll find selfishness at its root.

Dwight L. Moody once said, “I have more trouble with D. L. Moody than with any other man I’ve ever met.” As Moody recognized, it’s our obsession with ourselves that is at the root of our problems.

The apostle Paul urged the believers at Philippi, “Don’t be selfish; don’t try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves. Don’t look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too” (Philippians 2:3–4 NLT).

That’s a tall order for people whose selfish impulses start at birth. But God stands ready to help you. To transform your focus and your priorities. To help you recognize and deal with your selfish urges. To take away the devil’s advantage over you. It’s a lifelong process, but one that’s well worth the time.

 

Reflection question: In what areas do selfish urges cause you the most problems? Discuss Today's Devo in Harvest Discipleship!

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