James 4:1

Holy Bible: Easy-to-Read Version

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

Cross References

1 Peter 2:11

Dear friends, you are like visitors and strangers in this world. So I beg you to keep your lives free from the evil things you want to do, those desires that fight against your true selves.

Galatians 5:17

The sinful self wants what is against the Spirit, and the Spirit wants what is against the sinful self. They are always fighting against each other, so that you don’t do what you really want to do.

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 8:7

Why is this true? Because anyone whose thinking is controlled by their sinful self is against God. They refuse to obey God’s law. And really they are not able to obey it.

James 1:14

You are tempted by the evil things you want. Your own desire leads you away and traps you.

Jeremiah 17:9

“Nothing can hide its evil as well as the human mind. It can be very sick, and no one really understands it.

1 Peter 1:14

In the past you did not have the understanding you have now, so you did the evil things you wanted to do. But now you are children of God, so you should obey him and not live the way you did before.

Colossians 3:5

So put everything evil out of your life: sexual sin, doing anything immoral, letting sinful thoughts control you, and wanting things that are wrong. And don’t keep wanting more and more for yourself, which is the same as worshiping a false god.

2 Peter 3:3

It is important for you to understand what will happen in the last days. People will laugh at you. They will live following the evil they want to do.

James 4:3

Or when you ask, you don’t receive anything, because the reason you ask is wrong. You only want to use it for your own pleasure.

2 Peter 2:18

They boast with words that mean nothing. They lead people into the trap of sin. They find people who have just escaped from a wrong way of life and lead them back into sin. They do this by using the evil things people want to do in their human weakness.

Titus 3:3

In the past we were foolish too. We did not obey, we were wrong, and we were slaves to the many things our bodies wanted and enjoyed. We lived doing evil and being jealous. People hated us and we hated each other.

Titus 3:9

Stay away from those who have foolish arguments, who talk about useless family histories, or who make trouble and fight about what the Law of Moses teaches. These things are useless and will not help anyone.

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 desires controlled our bodies, so that what we did only brought us spiritual death.

Matthew 15:19

All these bad things begin in the mind: evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual sins, stealing, lying, and insulting people.

John 8:44

Your father is the devil. You belong to him. You want to do what he wants. He 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.

2 Timothy 2:23

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