"James saw an epidemic of worldly living among his readers. In 4:1-10 he warned against worldliness and showed its effects on the prayer life of his recipients. In 4:11-12 and in verses 13-17 he showed, respectively, that worldliness produced a critical spirit and a godless self-confidence.
In describing the effect of worldliness on the prayer life, James showed that his friends resorted to scheming, quarreling, and striving in order to obtain their wishes. They failed to receive what they truly needed because they did not ask. Whenever they did ask, they failed to receive because their request was tinged with self-will (4:1-3). James’ description of God in 4:5 demonstrated that God tolerated no rivals and wanted complete commitment from His followers. God could make heavy demands on His followers, but He could also provide the grace to meet those demands (4:6). In 4:7-10 James uttered in rapid-fire fashion ten imperative appeals to submit to God and avoid worldliness.
One evidence of worldliness James cited was the presence of a critical spirit (4:11-12). He saw that Christians were defaming one another in the same way that the ungodly defamed Christians (4:11; 2:7). James warned that those who belittled fellow Christians had set themselves up as judges and had assumed a position that rightly belonged only to God (4:12).
Probably the arrogance James denounced in 4:13-17 came from self-confident Jewish businessmen who planned their lives without reference to God’s will. James warned his readers that life resembled a transitory vapor and that all of life must be planned with reference to God’s will (4:14-15). The sin James described in this paragraph is an example of a sin of omission."
- Holman Bible Handbook: (James 4:1-17) The Avoidance of Worldliness
I'm persuaded that when we become so critical of others that we choose to point out their flaws, we blind ourselves from our own and deceive ourselves into becoming self-righteous hypocrites. Setting ourselves up as judges, we will be held accountable to God for every idle word we speak. I've been guilty. How about you?
"... do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect." Romans 12:2 NASB
