The Way Up is Down

Where do our fights really come from?

In Part IV of Street Smart, we turn to James 4 and discover that the conflicts around us often begin with something happening within us. Behind our anger, arguments, frustration, and offense are often unmet desires—a need to be right, respected, recognized, comfortable, or in control.

James challenges us to stop looking only at the person across from us and examine the battle happening within our own hearts. Sometimes we're not peaceful people who suddenly get provoked; we're already carrying hurt, anger, exhaustion, and unmet expectations that spill out when something finally pushes us over the edge.

But Scripture offers another way.

Rather than adopting the world's mindset of grabbing, winning, climbing, and getting more, James calls followers of Jesus toward humility and surrender. God doesn't abandon us when we fail—He gives more grace.

Through James 4, we discover five steps toward handling conflict differently:

Recognize the source of the conflict.

Realize there are consequences.

Repent of the attitude.

Resist the devil.

Rest in God.

Real peace isn't found in finally getting everyone around us to behave the way we want. It's found when we submit ourselves to God, draw near to Him, surrender our pride, and allow Him to work within us.

The world tells us the way up is to climb over everyone else.

James gives us a radically different kind of street wisdom:

The way to the top is to get down.