The Emotions That War Within – Part 3

Apostle Paul describes his person struggle with sin in Romans 7.

¹⁸ For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells; for to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find. ¹⁹ For the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, that I practice. ²⁰ Now if I do what I will not to do, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me. ²¹ I find then a law, that evil is present with me, the one who wills to do good. ²² For I delight in the law of God according to the inward man. ²³ But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.

Romans 7:18-23

Basically, we could be using one set of negative emotions to deal with another: we can end up accepting guilt, fear or pride as a means of offsetting lust. What can also happen is that we can compare ourselves with other people who sin, through pride, as a means of offloading the guilt that we have about our own sinfulness. This leads us to the “I’m a sinner, but I’m not as bad as him” syndrome. This comparison with others is nothing more than self-delusion and is a guaranteed way of warding off the mercy and grace of God. (See the Parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector in Luke 18:9-14).

James 4:1-3 talks about the lusts that war within our souls. This text uses the term “war” because it denotes an internal struggle that is going on with our mind, will and emotions.

¹ Where do wars and fights come from among you? Do they not come from your desires for pleasure that war in your members? ² You lust and do not have. You murder and covet and cannot obtain. You fight and war. Yet you do not have because you do not ask. ³ You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures.

James 4:1-3

Other versions of the Bible help to bring out the meaning of verse 1.

¹ What is causing the quarrels and fights among you? Isn't it because there is a whole army of evil desires within you?

James 4:1 TLB

¹ Where do you think all these appalling wars and quarrels come from? Do you think they just happen? Think again. They come about because you want your own way, and fight for it deep inside yourselves..

James 4:1 MSG

¹ What causes wars and contentions among you? Is it not the cravings which are ever at war within you for various pleasures?

James 4:1 Weymouth

¹ What is the cause of wars and fighting among you? is it not in your desires which are at war in your bodies?

James 4:1 BBE

Vincent’s Word Studies describes what is meant by the figurative description of members warring against each other in James 4:1.

Lusts (ἡδονῶν)

Lit., pleasures, as Rev. Properly, sensual pleasures. The sinful pleasures are the outgrowths of the lusts, James 4:2.

That war (στρατευομένων)

The thought of wars and rightings is carried into the figurative description of the sensuality which arrays its forces and carries on its campaign in the members. The verb does not imply mere fighting, but all that is included in military service. A remarkable parallel occurs in Plato, “Phaedo,” 66: “For whence come wars and rightings and factions? Whence but from the body and the lusts of the body?” Compare 1 Peter 2:11; Romans 7:23.

The net effect of this approach is that we end-up surrounding a thought with emotion in an attempt to deal with it in a way that is seen to be acceptable to God. What would be better is if we were to simply take away the emotional content of a thought so that it appears to be no longer attractive or repelling to us.

It seems as if the soul is constantly warring against itself, employing the emotion of lust in order to become attracted to those things it believes will bring fulfilment, whilst also maintaining an unhealthy mixture of guilt, anger, fear and pride in order to sustain an aversion to the thing lusted after.

A fact remains a fact and we cannot do anything about that: if someone said something about us or abused us five years ago then that remains a fact. But we can identify the emotions that the soul uses to accompany a thought and then release on the emotions individually; or we can simply let go of the attraction and the aversion towards that thought.  When we do this, we strip a thought of its power over us so that it no longer hurts us and no longer causes us to fear.  This enables us to live a life that is not controlled by our emotions. When we get rid of our own limiting emotions in this way, we allow God’s higher power to work in our lives.