Often in conflict, we are quick to see the speck of sawdust in our neighbor’s eye, but slow to see the plank that is in our own eye. It’s true. We are prone to lean into the sin that our neighbors commit. He did this, or she did that. In fact, sometimes we even take it one step further - we’ll even use their sin as some way to measure our own sin. We might use their sin to justify our actions. We may use their sin to minimize our own sin. In all sorts of different ways, we are quick to pinpoint others as the cause of conflict.

But James, the brother of Jesus, has a different answer. First, he asks the question: “What causes fights and quarrels among you?” He wants to know. Why do we have such conflicts? Why do we fight like we do? He asks the question and then gives quite an unexpected answer. The root of the problem is the sinful desires that live inside of you. It’s the idols that we’ve fashioned in our hearts. It’s the price we’ll pay to keep those idols and protect them from destruction. Whether the conflict began with you or you just continued it, your idolatrous heart has played a big part in the conflict in which you are involved.

But God made the first move to resolve the conflict. He did not just leave you to stew in your own pride and arrogance. He does not leave you to your idolatrous heart. Instead, he confronts your idolatry and sin. Then, having confronted your sin, he forgives you and raises you up from the ashes of your repentance.

Yes, God has always made the first move in any conflict. He did that when he sought Adam and Eve in their sin and when he made the first promise about the snake-crusher. He did it when he sent his Son, Jesus, for us while we were still sinners (Romans 5:8).

The first move in reconciliation is God’s coming to us to confront us with our idolatry and to reconcile us to Himself through his Son. James 4:1-10