James 4:1

Easy To Read Version

Do you know where your fights and arguments come from? Your fights and arguments come from the selfish desires that make war inside you.

Cross References

Jeremiah 17:9

“A person’s mind is very tricky!\par The mind can be very sick,\par and no person truly understands it.\par

Matthew 15:19

All these bad things begin in a person’s mind: evil thoughts, murder, adultery, {\cf2\super [210]} sexual sins, stealing, lying, saying bad things against other people.

John 8:44

Your father is the devil. You belong to him. You want to do what he wants. The devil was a murderer from the beginning. He was always against the truth. There is no truth in him. He is like the lies he tells. Yes, the devil is a liar. He is the father of lies.

Romans 7:23

But I see another law working in my body. That law makes war against the law that my mind accepts. That other law working in my body is the law of sin, and that law makes me its prisoner.

Romans 7:5

In the past, we were ruled by our sinful selves. The law made us want to do sinful things. And those sinful things we wanted to do controlled our bodies, so that the things we did were only bringing us spiritual death.

Romans 8:7

Why is this true? Because if a person’s thinking is controlled by his sinful self, then that person is against God. That person refuses to obey God’s law. And really that person is not able to obey God’s law.

Galatians 5:17

Our sinful selves want things that are against the Spirit. The Spirit wants things that are against our sinful selves. These two different things are against each other. So you don’t do the things you really want to do.

Colossians 3:5

So put all evil things out of your life: sexual sinning, doing evil, letting evil thoughts control you, wanting things that are evil, and selfishly wanting more and more. This wanting really means to live serving a false god.

2 Timothy 2:23

Stay away from foolish and stupid arguments. You know that those arguments grow into bigger arguments.

Titus 3:3

Grace (kindness) and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Titus 3:9

But I am not commanding you; I am asking you to do it out of love. I am Paul. I am an old man now, and I am a prisoner for Christ Jesus.

James 1:14

It is the evil things a person wants that tempt that person. His own evil desire leads him away and holds him.

James 4:3

Or when you ask, you don’t receive. Why? Because the reason you ask is wrong. You only want things so that you can use those things for your own pleasures.

1 Peter 1:14

In the past you did not understand about these things, so you did the evil things you wanted. But now you are children \{of God\} who obey. So don’t live like you lived in the past.

1 Peter 2:11

Dear friends, you are like visitors and strangers \{in this world\}. So I beg you to stay away from the evil things your bodies want to do. These things fight against your soul.

2 Peter 2:18

Those false teachers boast with words that mean nothing. They lead people into the trap \{of sin\}. They lead away people who are just beginning to come away from other people who live wrong. Those false teachers do this by using the evil things people want to do in their sinful selves.

2 Peter 3:3

It is important for you to understand what will happen in the last days. People will laugh \{at you\}. Those people will live following the evil things they want to do.