Nonsexual Adultery

What causes quarrels and fights? James explores the root of human conflicts—quarrels with spouses, fallouts with roommates, national polarization, and church splits—not as mere surface events, but as stemming from internal passions, derived from the Greek hēdonē (hedonism), or selfish desires. Every person’s own selfish desires are in constant collision with a world of eight billion other people, fostering jealousy, covetousness, and envy. Even extreme outcomes like murder arise when unchecked wants meet interference: either desires must shift, or the obstacle must be removed. Thus, all strife originates from warring passions within us, demanding introspection beyond blame.

Deeper still, James reveals a vertical issue: disordered desires arise from spiritual adultery, prioritizing worldly friendship over intimacy with God, akin to Israel's idolatrous history. God yearns jealously yet offers more grace (v. 6). Echoing Jesus in John 8, who neither condemns nor excuses the adulterous woman but absorbs sin through mercy—telling her to "sin no more"—the cross models sacrificial love: "my life for yours." Embracing unearned grace through humility and repentance unravels conflicts, transforming self-centered strife into relational restoration.