Destroying Your Life from Within
1–3 5 And a final word to you arrogant rich: Take some lessons in lament. You’ll need buckets for the tears when the crash comes upon you. Your money is corrupt and your fine clothes stink. Your greedy luxuries are a cancer in your gut, destroying your life from within. You thought you were piling up wealth. What you’ve piled up is judgment.
4–6 All the workers you’ve exploited and cheated cry out for judgment. The groans of the workers you used and abused are a roar in the ears of the Master Avenger. You’ve looted the earth and lived it up. But all you’ll have to show for it is a fatter than usual corpse. In fact, what you’ve done is condemn and murder perfectly good persons, who stand there and take it.
7–8 Meanwhile, friends, wait patiently for the Master’s Arrival. You see farmers do this all the time, waiting for their valuable crops to mature, patiently letting the rain do its slow but sure work. Be patient like that. Stay steady and strong. The Master could arrive at any time.
9 Friends, don’t complain about each other. A far greater complaint could be lodged against you, you know. The Judge is standing just around the corner.
10–11 Take the old prophets as your mentors. They put up with anything, went through everything, and never once quit, all the time honoring God. What a gift life is to those who stay the course! You’ve heard, of course, of Job’s staying power, and you know how God brought it all together for him at the end. That’s because God cares, cares right down to the last detail.
12 And since you know that he cares, let your language show it. Don’t add words like “I swear to God” to your own words. Don’t show your impatience by concocting oaths to hurry up, God. Just say yes or no. Just say what is true. That way, your language can’t be used against you.
James 5:1–12 (MSG):
– Reflection:
I used to wonder what it would be like to be rich. Then I started meeting rich people who had done unspeakable things to get their money or their fame. I began to ask myself whether it was worth your soul and your spirit just to drive in luxury or stand beside others who had dishonored themselves as well? With the same money they had to shame themselves for, there are shows that ask questions like, What would you do for a million? No—ten million, and on and on. There isn’t a price for me to be perverted in any way.
It is up to those of us who are being redeemed, who have been redeemed, and who are still working toward redemption. I don’t know the level, I just wanted to make sure everybody is accounted for. When we live out our lives the way we are supposed to, it makes sense. The flash and the glamour are going to get the weaker ones if we can’t appeal to their souls, but we can’t give up on them.
When interacting with anyone who may seem lost, they should hear Christ in your voice and see life in the way you move. Jesus wasn’t a troublemaker, but He wasn’t a soft guy either. He fought hard for us in life and made the ultimate sacrifice by giving His life. If he did that for us, can’t we at least help others outside the Kingdom come in to see the showroom floor? We owe that to ourselves, not Jesus. Let’s help others stop destroying themselves from within.
– Where do we go from here?
We don’t move forward by accident. We move forward on purpose.
The first place we go is to prayer and to the Word, not once in a while, but regularly. Prayer is how we align our minds and hearts with Christ. The Bible is how we learn what He sounds like, how He thinks, and how He wants us to live. Without those two things working together, we are guessing our way through life and guessing leads people to chase money, power, pleasure, and approval that slowly destroys them from the inside.
Start small and steady. Pray for your wife or husband. Pray for your children. Pray for your neighbor. Pray for your family. Don’t worry about fancy words. God isn’t impressed by vocabulary; He responds to honesty. Say what you feel. Say what hurts. Say what scares you. Say what you hope for. Then listen.
Once prayer becomes normal, once it stops feeling awkward and starts feeling necessary, then ask God what’s next. But don’t ask unless you are ready to move. God answers prayers, and His answers often require change, courage, and action. He may show you habits that need to stop. He may show you people you’ve avoided but need to love. He may open doors that feel uncomfortable. That’s not punishment, it’s growth.
Faith is not passive. Faith moves. Faith listens and obeys. Faith doesn’t wait until it feels ready; it steps forward while trusting God to steady the ground beneath it.
As we grow, we become examples whether we mean to or not. People who feel lost are watching. They listen to our tone. They study our reactions. They notice how we handle pressure, money, conflict, and forgiveness. We may be the only picture of Christ they ever see. Our job is not to argue them into the Kingdom, but to live in a way that makes the Kingdom look real and worth entering.
We cannot save anyone but we can point the way, walk beside them, and refuse to give up on them. Helping others stop destroying themselves from within starts with letting God clean us up from within first.
Belief and prayer come first. Action follows. And God does the work that only He can do.
– Our Prayer for Today
Father, we come to You just as we are, not pretending, not hiding, and not trying to sound impressive. Clean out anything inside us that is breaking us down. Remove our hunger for things that don’t last. Replace it with a hunger for truth, for peace, and for right living. Teach us to pray regularly, not only when life hurts, but also when life feels calm. Help us stay connected to You so our choices reflect You. Give us patience when waiting is hard. Give us strength when doing right costs us something. Give us the courage to act when You say, “Move.” Let our words be honest. Let our actions show love. Let our lives point people toward hope, not confusion. Use us to help others see that there is more to life than money, power, or pleasure. Help us live in a way that invites others to step in and see what You are doing. We trust You even when we don’t fully understand. And we commit today to stop destroying ourselves from within and to walk the path You’ve placed in front of us. Amen.
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Let Your Spirit guide our decisions, our conversations, and our actions. When challenges come, remind us that You are our strength. When we feel weak, remind us that steel is forged in fire, and You are shaping us for something greater. Let today be a day where we grow, serve, and reflect Your love in everything we do. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
