“IF IT IS THE LORD’S WILL…”

Passage: James 4:11-17

Key verse: 15

NIV

11 Brothers and sisters, do not slander one another.(A) Anyone who speaks against a brother or sister[a] or judges them(B) speaks against the law(C) and judges it. When you judge the law, you are not keeping it,(D) but sitting in judgment on it. 12 There is only one Lawgiver and Judge,(E) the one who is able to save and destroy.(F) But you—who are you to judge your neighbor?(G)

Boasting About Tomorrow

13 Now listen,(H) you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.”(I) 14 Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.(J) 15 Instead, you ought to say, “If it is the Lord’s will,(K) we will live and do this or that.” 16 As it is, you boast in your arrogant schemes. All such boasting is evil.(L) 17 If anyone, then, knows the good they ought to do and doesn’t do it, it is sin for them.(M)

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Footnotes
  1. James 4:11 The Greek word for brother or sister (adelphos) refers here to a believer, whether man or woman, as part of God’s family.
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Source: BibleGateway

ESV

11 (A)Do not speak evil against one another, brothers.[a] The one who speaks against a brother or (B)judges his brother, speaks evil against the law and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge. 12 There is only (C)one lawgiver and (D)judge, he who is able to save and (E)to destroy. But (F)who are you to judge your neighbor?

Boasting About Tomorrow

13 Come now, you who say, (G)“Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit”— 14 yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For (H)you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. 15 Instead you ought to say, (I)“If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.” 16 As it is, you boast in your arrogance. (J)All such boasting is evil. 17 (K)So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.

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Footnotes
  1. James 4:11 Or brothers and sisters
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
Source: BibleGateway

We are commanded not to slander (speak falsely about) our brother or sister. We are also not to judge them. Doing so doesn’t just harm the one we speak falsely about. It harms ourselves as well. When we speak falsely of or judge our brother or sister, we are speaking against the law and that is sin. Judging others is judging the law. It is usurping God’s authority because God is the judge. Why is God the one, true Judge? Because he alone can save. And he alone can destroy. We are commanded to love our brothers and sisters, not to judge them.

People are always making plans for their lives. “I’ll go and work hard and make much money and have a comfortable life.” But where is God there? He is left out completely from our lives. This is the height of arrogance, for our very lives belong to God. We do not know what will happen tomorrow. Only God knows. James teaches that God should be the center of our plans. Even in the most mundane things of our lives, we should seek God’s will before we make plans. There is nothing wrong in planning. There is nothing wrong in hoping things go well. But God should come first.

Prayer: Father, my life is not my own. It belongs to you. Help me not to judge my brothers and sisters, but to seek your will in all I do.

One Word: Our lives belong to God; seek his will