Letting Go Of Self

1. Letting Go Of Self James 4:1-6

2. Letting Go Of Self • We pick back up with our study on the book of James • We dive into chapter 4 tonight to look at the first 6 verses • James has just touched on the subject of selfishness at the end of chapter 3 while speaking of wisdom

3. Letting Go Of Self • Selfishness is a very difficult foe for us in this life • It lies at the heart of every sin that we commit • When I sin, I am serving my self, my wants, and my desires instead of what God wants for me (Js. 1:14)

4. Letting Go Of Self • Selfishness causes us to sin • We must take it seriously and learn to combat it • It begins by understanding the issues that selfishness can cause in our lives • If we don’t see a problem we will never move to fix it

5. Letting Go Of Self • 1. Selfishness causes strife (v. 1) • One of the first things James points out is that selfishness causes strife in the world • The desire for personalpleasure causes these wars and fights • Strife is mentioned as one of the sins deserving of death (Rom. 1:29)

6. Letting Go Of Self • 1. Selfishness causes strife (v. 1) • Paul mentions the works of the flesh which include contentions, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, and dissensions (Gal. 5:19-21) • Paul speaks of how we should act vs. how we have acted (Titus 3:1-3)

7. Letting Go Of Self • 2. Selfishness causes self-reliance (v. 2) • James points out next that there is still some lacking there • They lusted, murdered, coveted, fought; and yet they still did not have what they were after • All this was because they did not ask

8. Letting Go Of Self • 2. Selfishness causes self-reliance (v. 2) • In other words, we see self-reliance here • People that are selfish think that they can handle anything and everything on their own • They do not see the need in God because they have “self” to take care of things

9. Letting Go Of Self • 2. Selfishness causes self-reliance (v. 2) • David understood reliance on God (Ps. 63:1-2) • Our dependence on God is probably best described in Jeremiah 17:5-9 • Selfishness causes us to turn away from the giver of all good and perfect gifts (1:17)

10. Letting Go Of Self • 3. Selfishness causes hinderedprayers(v. 3) • The next problem James addressed was asking out of selfish motives • They asked but did not receive because they asked from selfish motives • Our motives behind our prayers matter!

11. Letting Go Of Self • 3. Selfishness causes hindered prayers(v. 3) • We need to be selfless in our prayers • That means praying about and for others • It also means that when we pray about ourselves, that we do it from pure motives with the intention of glorifying God

12. Letting Go Of Self • 4. Selfishness causes enmity with God(v. 4) • Enmity = hostility or opposition • Selfishness leads to sin, which is a separation from God (Is. 59:1-2) • We are either with God or we are against Him

13. Letting Go Of Self • 4. Selfishness causes enmity with God(v. 4) • “Because the carnal (fleshly) mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be”(Rom. 8:7) • Remember God should come first(Matt. 22:37)

14. Letting Go Of Self • 5. Selfishness causes pride (v. 6) • Those who are selfish are lifted up with pride • They have an attitude that they need no one else and can do everything for themselves • Selfishness gives them an inflated ego

15. Letting Go Of Self • 5. Selfishness causes pride (v. 6) • God resists those who are proud • “Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall” (I Cor. 10:12) • “Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall” (Prov. 16:18)

16. Letting Go Of Self • 6. Selfishness costs us grace (v. 6) • God gives grace to the humble, but resists the proud and the selfish • If we find ourselves full of pride, then God does not give grace to us • We need the grace of God, for by it we have been saved (Eph. 2:8)