Leawood, Kansas, United States - The United Methodist Church of the Resurrection Daily Guide grow. pray. study. for Thursday, 4 September 2014 "The source of conflict"

Leawood, Kansas, United States - The United Methodist Church of the Resurrection Daily Guide grow. pray. study. for Thursday, 4 September 2014 "The source of conflict"
Daily Scripture: James 4: Get Serious
1-2 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. You lust for what you don’t have and are willing to kill to get it. You want what isn’t yours and will risk violence to get your hands on it.
2-3 You wouldn’t think of just asking God for it, would you? And why not? Because you know you’d be asking for what you have no right to. You’re spoiled children, each wanting your own way.
4-6 You’re cheating on God. If all you want is your own way, flirting with the world every chance you get, you end up enemies of God and his way. And do you suppose God doesn’t care? The proverb has it that “he’s a fiercely jealous lover.” And what he gives in love is far better than anything else you’ll find. It’s common knowledge that “God goes against the willful proud; God gives grace to the willing humble.”
Reflection Questions:
James reflected on outward behaviors, but also on their inner sources long before Freud and the birth of modern psychiatry. He saw Romans, Jews and Samaritans fight each other, sometimes with weapons, but even more often with bitter words. He challenged his readers to look inward. Conflict, he said, was (and still is) often rooted not in the noble motives we try to claim for it, but in selfish wishes for more power or wealth than others have.
When you find yourself harboring negative feelings about a political candidate, do you ever look inside yourself and ask, "What is there in me that this candidate threatens, annoys or frightens?" In what ways can James' wisdom, encouraging us to recognize the inner sources of conflict, help us to relate in more Christ-like ways, in politics as well as other areas of life?
We know, from American history, that political opponents accused Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln and Theodore Roosevelt (three fourths of Mount Rushmore!) of being dishonest, trying to destroy freedom, and even more vile personal faults. What can we learn from that history when we are tempted to use, or to agree with, similar slurs aimed toward political candidates in this fall's elections?
Today's Prayer:
Heavenly Father, help me to tame my tongue, and the inner fears and insecurities that so often set my tongue off. Thank you for the grace you give me. Help me to respond to it by living ever more faithfully. Amen.
Insight from Shawn Simpson
Shawn Simpson serves as the Director of Technical Arts and Operations at The Church of the Resurrection’s West campus in Olathe, KS.
I can vividly remember my sisters arguing with each other when we were kids.  They were both older than me, a fact that neither of them likes to be reminded of, and were much closer in age to each other than to me.  From my perspective, they were both into the same things at the same time, so it’s odd thinking about how much they bickered about it all.  Reading today’s GPS and scripture, I can finally say that I understand why my sisters fought like they did: they were jealous of each other.
I suppose it shouldn’t have taken me over 30 years to figure that out, especially when you consider how often the phrase “YOU’RE JUST JEALOUS!” was hurled back and forth between them, but hey, nobody ever accused me of being terribly smart.  Lucky for us, my sisters never let their arguments leave the house.  They may have fought with each other at home, but you were in some sad shape if you came in from the outside and tried to argue with either of them.  I was, naturally,  the little angel of the family, so I never had to deal with any of that.
Well, there WAS this ONE time when I was 15 and couldn’t understand why my parents wouldn’t just buy me a brand new truck. Afterall, my OLDEST sister had gotten a brand new car at some point so it was only fair that I should, too!  Ok, so maybe I wasn’t such an angel and maybe I did get into a little of the bickering myself from time to time.  The point is that MY anger and frustration and probably not-so-nice words were legitimately because I was being deprived of something that I wanted!  So what if I had guitars and audio equipment and all manner of awesome toys that every adolescent boy needs?  That didn’t mean that they should be mad and want to fight with ME!  That’s their fault for opting for marching band instead of playing the same instrument our dad played.  They were just jealous.  Yeah. </rant>
There’s a little glimpse into my childhood, before I’d learned the difference between “want” versus “need” and “getting a chance” versus “doing my best.”  As I’ve pondered the GPS and thought about various issues that I’ve either had publicly or held inside, I’m struck that most can be attributed to jealousy, envy, and greed.  Someone else got a chance that I didn’t get, so I’m jealous.  Someone else made better choices with that chance; now I’m envious.  Someone else is stepping into my world and threatening what I’ve worked for, now my greed forces me to confront the issue.
I carry quite a load of baggage with me when it comes to jealousy, envy, and greed.  In previous postings, I’ve opened up about my low self-esteem issues, which shouldn’t be confused with a lack of CONFIDENCE, but only a lack of faith that I can be good enough to live up to my own set standard.  The biggest issue I run into in my own life is when I see someone doing something much better than I could, especially when it’s in my area of expertise.  It happens often, so it would stand to reason that I’d have learned to cope, and I have to an extent.  When I’m not coping well it can be an ugly situation in side my head.
A few little phrases that people have shared with me over the years have really helped me to cope.  I use them frequently with my boys, especially when it comes to their sports and competitive endeavors.  Here they are:
Breaking that guy’s leg won’t make you run faster.
Anything worth doing is worth over-doing.
You’re not born knowing stuff.  It takes time and effort.
Mitigating failure requires wisdom.  Acquiring wisdom requires failure.
I’m not going for anything profound here.  I’d just like to share where having low self-esteem and being raised in a house with a pair of bickering older sisters has led me in terms of the words that help me through situations where my jealousy, envy, or greed could become dangerously toxic.  I don’t take credit for any of these phrases, and I’m sure there is an author who could be sited, but I consider these to be a modern way of saying what we see in James 4.  In the ideal world, we would all take our jealousy and turn it into inspiration to be better, to show God that we are worthy of his blessings and grace; we would envy those who are living out God’s purpose and strive to be in ministry them; we would be greedy for opportunities to test ourselves and bring others alongside us as we walk.  Regardless of political lines or social status, we are all commanded to love one another and what greater love is there than to take joy in seeing someone succeed and aspire to reach new heights ourselves?____________________________