James 3:16-4:10
3 ways to know if our pursuit of pleasure is costing us our peace
1- The opposite of jealousy and selfish ambition is peacefulness. You can assess your own selfishness/jealousy and that of those around you by the peace they carry and bring to the environments they enter. Peace is a product of dependance on the prince of peace, rhythmically and in discipline communing with him. Time with the prince of peace in his word and spirit helps us sow peace, then reap peace, and become.. peaceful.
2- We must assess the motives within asking for pleasures.. Many times we are asking for something to complete us that was only intended to complement us. If your search for completion is by what was only intended to complement, don't be upset when God tests the heart and motive, through trials and timing. A peace in him will multiply the pleasure you experience if you can learn and lean into him deeper… and you might find the pleasure you seek might actually be replaced by the peace he brings.
3- Beware the attack of duplicity and double mindedness. God will allow you to go through tests in order to purify the heart's motives. Don’t run from them. The test of duplicity is to think that you are allowed a heavenly mind and way of being, and also a dark side that no one knows about, stemming from an unrenewed mind. If you choose the work of renovation, you will know personally the power you carry to restore, and in restoring your own world, you might find he uses you to restore this world.
