Righteousness; the fruit

"Now the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace, James 3:18. In the 4th. chapter of James epistle he is talking about wars and fights. Now it is important to remember that the people that he is addressing are primarily Christians, and yet he speaks of wars and fights coming from among them. Look at these verses and consider where you are today. Consider the church today in North America, perhaps the one you attend. Verse 1 says these wars and fights come from within, that is from our own desires for pleasure and in verses 2&3 we see James describing a deplorable condition that existed, one of lust and murder and asking amiss(not in the will of God) and verse #4 just gets worse naming some as adulterers and adultresses. He concludes this by saying that friendship with the world is to be an enemy of God.
I started this entry by quoting from verse 18 of chapter 3, "Now the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace." Backing up just a little to verse 16, "For where envy and self-seeking exist, confusion and every evil thing are there."Direct opposites, the fruit of righteousness and envy and self-seeking. The fruit of righteousness is sown; it has to be planted first, that's how you grow things; perhaps I should say that is how God grows things, we sow the seed and He does the growing. We sow seeds of peace and He grows the fruit of righteousness in us. To sow something, in this instance seeds of peace requires work, "faith without works is dead." Jesus said in John's gospel, "Peace I leave with you. My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid." Christianity is not passive, grace is not passive, you must ask for His grace and it is power, power to live an effective Christian life. Keep on believing and be encouraged to walk close to Him at all times.