James 4:1

Conflicts among believers spring from selfish desires battling within. The root of outward quarrels is the disordered cravings of the heart.

Cross-references · 23

• 1 Pet 2:11Beloved, I urge you, as foreigners and exiles, to abstain from the desires of the flesh, which war against your soul.
• Gal 5:17For the flesh craves what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are opposed to each other, so that you do not do what you want.
• Rom 7:23But I see another law at work in my body, warring against the law of my mind and holding me captive to the law of sin that dwells within me.
• Jas 1:14But each one is tempted when by his own evil desires he is lured away and enticed.
• Rom 8:7because the mind of the flesh is hostile to God: It does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so.
• 1 Jn 2:15–17Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
• Jer 17:9The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?
• Jude 1:16–18These men are discontented grumblers, following after their own lusts; their mouths spew arrogance; they flatter others for their own advantage.
• 1 Pet 1:14As obedient children, do not conform to the passions of your former ignorance.
• Col 3:5Put to death, therefore, the components of your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires, and greed, which is idolatry.
• Jas 3:14–18But if you harbor bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast in it or deny the truth.
• 2 Pet 3:3Most importantly, you must understand that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires.
• Mark 7:21–23For from within the hearts of men come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery,
• Jas 4:3And when you do ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may squander it on your pleasures.
• Titus 3:9But avoid foolish controversies, genealogies, arguments, and quarrels about the law, because these things are pointless and worthless.
• 2 Pet 2:18With lofty but empty words, they appeal to the sensual passions of the flesh and entice those who are just escaping from others who live in error.
• Gen 4:5–8but He had no regard for Cain and his offering. So Cain became very angry, and his countenance fell.
• Titus 3:3For at one time we too were foolish, disobedient, misled, and enslaved to all sorts of desires and pleasures—living in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another.
• Matt 15:19For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, and slander.
• 1 Pet 4:2–3Consequently, he does not live out his remaining time on earth for human passions, but for the will of God.
• 1 Tim 6:4–10he is conceited and understands nothing. Instead, he has an unhealthy interest in controversies and semantics, out of which come envy, strife, abusive talk, evil suspicions,
• Rom 7:5For when we lived according to the flesh, the sinful passions aroused by the law were at work in our bodies, bearing fruit for death.
• John 8:44You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out his desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, refusing to uphold the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, because he is a liar and the father of lies.

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