Pt. 1 pain and pleasure

James 4:1 "What is the source of quarrels and conflicts among you? Is not the source your pleasures that wage war in your members?"

This verse can apply to the church community and to the individual as well. Someone does something another doesnt think is right, whatever its, and conflict starts and churches split and people leave the church......extreme cases, none the less a quarrel starts. Whatever the application whithin the community this verse is true.

I want to focus on the this verse in concern with the individual. I want to stress this study concerns the christian but everyone is urged to respond with what they think, but the application of this study is for believers.

Our pleasure is what causes the source of our quarrels within our body. 1Peter 2:11 "Beloved, I urge you as aliens and strangers to abstain from fleshly lusts which wage war against the soul." Peter here states this differently and also says to stay away form "fleshly lusts" or pleasures, because it wages war with the soul/spirit. Our members are are the parts of our body : arm, hands, mind, and so on. The desires of our mind and body to have sex, drink, use tobaco, lie, cheat and whatever else goes aginst our spirit.

In my ethics class, i have learned that sometims doing the right thing feels wrong (continent). such things as not having sex when someone of the other sex is urging you to do it and you don't. Sometims it will feel wrong to live right, causing a war of flesh aginst soul/spirit.

1Peter 3: 17 "For it is better, if God should will it so, that you suffer for doing what is right rather than for doing what is wrong." When our flesh goes aginst our spirit, we feel bad a suffer for doing what is right rather than for what is wrong. 1Peter 4:1 "Therefore, since Christ has suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same purpose, because he who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin"