James tells us the source of quarreling and wars. He says, authoritatively, that people fight and quarrel because of their covetousness. Covetousness, in its turn, a violation of the tenth commandment, is the opposite of contentment.
When you are weeding in a garden, it is not enough to simply clip the weed so that it is no longer visible. Weeding, rightly done, pulls the weed up by the root. In the same way, telling a congregation to love one another, to forgive one another, to be tender with one another, to refuse quarreling, is simply an attempt to clip off the green part of the weed. It will not work, it cannot work. Such exhortations may even have the effect of pruning the weed, making the roots go deeper.
James tells us that the root is covetousness, greed, lust, want. Do you love money? Then look for trouble. Do you envy the good fortune of others? Then expect to find fault with them. Do you resent that you have comparatively little, or less than you deserve? Then James tells us that the root of the quarrel is already within you, whatever the occasion for the quarrel might happen to be. We do not know what day will be chosen to have the root spring up, but it will do so. And whatever day this happens, the root is always doing the same thing.
So we return to our theme. We should love one another. We should forgive one another. We should be tender of one another. But in order to do this, we must get at the root of our discontent. That root is greed, or covetousness. Dig it up, and peace with those brothers and sisters who have done the same, follows.