James 3:14-16 (NIV)

“But if you harbor bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast about it or deny the truth. Such “wisdom” does not come down from heaven but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice.”

What do you harbor in your heart? Is it hard for you to be around people that have more than you? Are you fixated on your personal goals to move up at work, get a raise, or earn the big bonus? Do you think more about yourself than others?

The world will tell you it’s good to “have goals” and for the most part, it is. The world will agree that competition is a good thing, and it usually is…that by focusing on the person ahead of you, it helps you to run faster, catch them, and eventually pass them by. The world tends to baptize our envy and ambition as a good thing and uses it as a way to get ahead in life. God’s Word, on the other hand, calls it something else: earthly, unspiritual, and even demonic.

Godly wisdom, as we learned previously, works itself out in good deeds and a humble and Godly lifestyle. It does not show up in our striving for bigger, better, and more…unless that striving is for the things of God. There should be a constant tension between working out our salvation and resting in the peace that surpasses all understanding. Working out of joy rather than working out of fear. Striving for Kingdom goals rather than fleshly goals. Doing all for the glory of God rather than doing all for the glory of self.

The question always boils down to this: what’s in your heart?