Live Close
“Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up. Brothers and sisters, do not slander one another. Anyone who speaks against a brother or sister or judges them speaks against the law and judges it. When you judge the law, you are not keeping it, but sitting in judgment on it. There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the one who is able to save and destroy. But you—who are you to judge your neighbor?” — James 4:7–12, NIV
The world is constantly pulling for our attention, our loyalty, our priorities, and our hearts. We are surrounded by messages telling us to take control, live our “truth,” put ourselves first, chase monetary success, follow our feelings, and do whatever makes us “happy.” None of those messages sound dangerous initially—In fact, many of them sound pretty normal. But the Bible gives us a very different picture of what it looks like to live close to God.
In just a few verses, James lays out a series of responses that help us recognize the ways the world can slowly pull us away from God and show us how to return our hearts to him. Let’s explore them verse by verse:
Verse 7: Relinquish control of your life and resist the devil.
James begins with two commands that go together: submit to God and resist the devil. We often want to focus on the second part. We want to resist temptation, resist fear, resist bad habits, resist whatever is threatening our peace. But James shows us that we have to start with submission. Resisting bad is a lot easier than surrendering all…
Submitting to God means relinquishing our need to control everything. It means recognizing that he is God and we are not. It means trusting his wisdom over our own, his timing over ours, and his direction over what may feel easiest or most appealing in the moment. Knowing this, it makes sense why submission comes before resistance— We cannot fully resist the things pulling us away from God while still insisting on being in charge of our own lives.
Resistance is not passive—we do not accidentally drift toward holiness (wouldn’t that be nice). James tells us to resist the devil, which means there are times when following God requires us to say no—to temptation, to compromise, to pride, to bitterness, to patterns we know are unhealthy, to things that may actually appear good but will lead to destruction, and to voices that are pulling us in a direction opposite of God. Relinquishing control to God and resisting the enemy are two sides of the same decision: choosing who will have authority in our lives.
Verse 8: Restore worship to a priority, renounce sinful actions, and reject sinful attitudes.
James continues, “Come near to God, and he will come near to you.” What an invitation! God is not hiding from us or asking us to somehow earn our way back into his presence. He calls us to draw near.
Drawing near to God requires honesty about the things that have been pulling us away from him. James says, “Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.” There is both an outward and inward element here. Our actions matter, but so do our attitudes. We can clean up certain behaviors while still holding onto jealousy, pride, resentment, selfish ambition, or divided loyalties in our hearts.
Sometimes the world does not pull us away from God through something obviously sinful. Sometimes it simply crowds him out. Our schedules become full, our minds become noisy, our priorities slowly shift, and worship becomes something we “fit in” when we have time instead of the foundation of our lives.
Restoring worship to a priority means intentionally turning our attention back toward God. It means making space to hear from him, to pray, to open Scripture, and to examine the places where our hearts have become divided. Drawing near to God is not just about proximity; it is about devotion.
Verse 9: React to sin with sorrow and refrain from a frivolous attitude toward evil.
James’ language here is strong: “Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom.” At first, it can almost sound as though James is telling believers not to be joyful. But that is definitely not the point—Scripture repeatedly speaks of joy as a gift from God. James is simply addressing how we respond to sin.
It is easy to become casual about things we are constantly exposed to. The more normal something becomes around us, the less serious it can begin to feel. Over time and exposure, we can begin to laugh at things that once would have bothered us, excuse attitudes we once recognized as wrong, or become comfortable with habits simply because everyone else seems comfortable with them too.
James reminds us that sin is never something to treat lightly. It damages our relationship with God and with others. Genuine repentance begins when we stop making excuses and allow ourselves to see sin for what it is.
But I want to be clear that sorrow over sin is not the same thing as living in shame. Shame tells us to hide from God (remember Adam and Eve naked in the garden). Repentance moves us toward him. Godly sorrow recognizes what is wrong and then turns toward the One who offers forgiveness, restoration, and grace.
Verse 10: Respond humbly to success.
“Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.”
Humility runs against almost everything the world teaches us. The world encourages us to build our own platform (become an “influencer”), prove ourselves, make sure we get credit, and protect our position and peace. James tells us to do something entirely different: humble ourselves before God and trust him with the lifting up.
It can be easy to turn to God when life is falling apart—Success sometimes brings a different temptation. When things are going well, we can begin to believe we got there entirely on our own. We may start placing our identity in what we have accomplished or comparing ourselves to people who seem to have accomplished less.
Humility reminds us that every gift, opportunity, ability, and open door ultimately comes from God. Success should not move us away from dependence on him. It should move us toward gratitude.
We do not have to spend our lives proving our worth or fighting to elevate ourselves. James tells us that our responsibility is to remain humble before the Lord and we can trust him with where he places us.
Verses 11–12: Refuse to slander fellow believers.
James then turns from our relationship with God to the way we speak about other people. Our spiritual lives cannot be separated from how we treat others.
“Brothers and sisters, do not slander one another.”
Words have tremendous power. We can encourage someone, defend someone, comfort someone, or build someone up with our words. We can also damage a reputation, deepen a wound, or create division just as easily. Slander often begins subtly and can look like gossip disguised as “concern,” criticism shared unnecessarily, or assumptions about someone’s motives. Sometimes it can even make us feel better about ourselves. If we can point out what is wrong with someone else, we do not have to look as closely at our own hearts. But James brings us back to humility. “There is only one Lawgiver and Judge.” God sees every situation completely—we do not.
We should still exercise wisdom or discernment in recognizing what is right and wrong. But there is a difference between discernment and condemnation. There is a difference between addressing harmful behavior and deciding that we have the authority to define another person’s worth, motives, or standing before God.
James asks a question that should stop us in our tracks: “But you—who are you to judge your neighbor?” It is difficult to stand in judgment over someone else while also remembering how much grace we ourselves have received!
These verses give us a simple but challenging picture of what it looks like to resist the pull of the world: relinquish control, restore worship, renounce sin, reject divided attitudes, react seriously to sin, respond with humility, and refuse to tear others down. These are not things the world tends to celebrate, but they are the practices that keep our hearts close to God in a world constantly trying to tear us away.
Draw near to him today; he is waiting to draw near to you. What a gift.
bytaylormcgee
