But if ye have bitter envying and strife in
your hearts, glory not, and lie not against the truth. (James 3v14)
This is the second spirit I would like us to look at. It is devastating in nature and
unfavourable to anyone. It exists in many people including believers, but this ought
not so to be. This is the subject of strife. There is a problem ladies and
gentlemen if we remain ignorant of the problem that we have. If one fails to
recognise a sickness or a disease in his body he will also fail to seek medical
attention and the sickness will
do
whatever it wants with his body because it will be unknown. The same is true
with the spirit of strife. It is not known by many people yet it also exists in
many people and thus a few take control measures over it. No one takes
medication for a disease he doesn’t know of its existence in him.
Sometimes you need to be humble
enough to ask for forgiveness even if you are 100% sure that you were right
and deserved the apology. You won’t die because of an apology
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The
word strife, by definition, means conflict, sometimes violent, usually brief or
limited in scope. It is synonymous with the words conflict, contention and
discord. It is characterised by quarrelling, arguing and usually leads to hatred.
I have seen many Christians succumb to this spirit mainly because they do not
know that the devil is behind it; people who are controlled by strife yet they
are the ones who mostly profess to be spiritually mature. I am not merely
talking about congregants and Church members; I am also talking about Church
leaders, Pastors, Deacons, Elders, Bishops and Prophets. Strife penetrates into
the leaders to fulfil this purpose: steal, kill and destroy. Let us look at it
in the Amplified:
But if you have
bitter jealousy (envy) and contention (rivalry, selfish ambition) in your
hearts, do not pride yourselves on it and thus be in defiance of {and} false to
the Truth.(James 3:14 AMP)
The amplified calls it
contention, rivalry and self-ambition; and notice where it takes place: in the
heart. There are many rivalries in the body of Christ; these may be because of
spiritual gifts, natural talents, riches, relationships and many other factors.
Some people have conflicts because someone is used by God through one spiritual
gift more than the other. If someone prophesies more details than the other,
then the one that has less details may envy the one who has more or the one who
has more may boast of his gift to the one who has less. This causes rivalry,
thus it results in strife. Some people can sing better than others, or
sometimes someone in the praise and worship team may try to convince everyone
that she is the best singer. If someone else also wants the same status then it
is likely that there will be a conflict. There are some who want to be closely
linked to the Pastor. If someone gets to be more linked to the Pastor than
others, there is likely to be rivalry.
There are many things that cause strife and
unless they are dealt with, they are very harmful. The Amplified Bible makes
strife clearer by saying that it is for self-ambition in your hearts. Strife is
usually there to satisfy selfish ambitions. It is usually dominant where a
person wants to fulfil his personal interests at any cost and even at the
expense of other people. Selfishness is the root of strife. There are people
who do not care what happens to other people as long as they just get what they
want. Such an attitude of selfishness results in strife. Some are just after
everyone’s recognition and acceptance and if that recognition goes to someone
else, they get bitter and get themselves into strife.
Strife is dangerous, it cripples your love
walk and always puts you at a disadvantage wherever you may go. The presence of
strife is the absence of love. The Bible says ”where envying and strife is,
there is confusion and every evil work (James3:16).“ Strife is everywhere and
even in Churches. Strife is generated on the inside and expressed on the
outside. The Bible calls it self-ambition in your heart. The outside expression
of strife is usually displayed in quarrelling and arguing. This is one factor
that exists in most groups, disagreement and quarrelling. The Bible warns
against it saying in 2Timothy 2:23 ”But
refuse (shut your mind against, have nothing to do with) trifling
(ill-informed, unedifying, stupid) controversies over ignorant questionings,
for you know that they foster strife {and} breed quarrels“(AMP)
There are people who like to
argue especially over biblical issues. Things like godly clothing, meats,
Sabbath days and food are some of the topics discussed in these hot debates. I
have experienced a lot of people who come to me with some questions that lead
to arguments and I have turned them down. There are people out there who are
ready to quarrel with you over the Bible and they mask strife in the name of
helping each other. There is no helping each other if the conversation results
in strife. There will be conflicts.
The Church in Corinth
experienced the same thing and because they argued too much they ended up
having divisions and factions. Some were saying we are of Paul, others saying
we are of Apollos and others saying we are of Christ. It all began as simple
debates. You see now how strife is generated? It is through small debates and
arguments. I have seen Christians arguing over even some silly issues. At one
instance they ended up no longer talking to each other. I am not talking about
distant people here, these were friends, members of the same Christian group,
in the same department and also followers of the same God, but this one thing
happened, they allowed strife to separate them through trifling (ill-informed,
unedifying, stupid) controversies over ignorant questionings. Some Churches
have split due to strife, they could not agree over some issues and so some
left and started their own ministries. I don’t know the strength of a ministry
that is started out of strife.
Proverbs 20:3AMP says: It is an honour for a man to cease from
strife {and} keep aloof from it, but every fool will quarrel. A person of
honour does not yield to strife but a fool gives in to strife through
quarrelling. Have you ever realised that people lose their honour or respect if
they quarrel too much? It happens; sometimes being calm helps you to obtain
respect. The Word says ”Even a fool,
when he holdeth his peace, is counted wise: and he that shutteth his lips is
esteemed a man of understanding“(Proverbs 17:28). It pays to maintain
silence, it keeps you away from strife.
Strife begins small and it
expands. It is like a veld fire which is started by a tiny matchstick yet it
burns the whole forest. The Bible says it this way:
The beginning of
strife is as when water first trickles [from a crack in a dam]; therefore stop
contention before it becomes worse {and} quarrelling breaks out.
Proverbs17:14 AMP
The problem with strife is that
it is evil. It is the open door that the devil uses to penetrate into your
life. He knows that you are anointed and it is difficult for him to reverse it.
He knows that God loves you and he cannot reverse it. He knows that you have
faith and it is difficult for him to reverse it. What he then does is look for
an opening, the last open door through which he can enter and disrupt your
life, and that open door is called strife. The devil took that strategy from
God. In Genesis 11, we see a group of people building a tower to reach heaven.
God sees their unity of thought and decides to stop them by confusing their
language. That is the same weapon the devil copied, but now he uses it for the
wrong reasons. Wherever the life of a Christian or a Christian group is
flowing, the devil seeks for the door of strife and confuses things. He brings
arguments, contentions and conflicts and if we are not careful, we find
ourselves arguing and quarrelling and eventually hating each other. This is
synonymous in many groups, organisations and among individuals. If you try to
trace back and see the reasons why some people who were once united and on fire
for God have since split or stopped, you will realise that there is an element
of strife. Just as God confused their language and brought to an end their
unity of thought, the devil also brings an end to people’s unity of thought and
surrounds them with confusion, then the Bible says where strife is there is
confusion and every evil. People end up no longer smiling to each other, no
more calling, no more texting and no more sharing the love as they would always
do. The reason for that is that they would have tolerated the spirit of strife
to rule over them.
Strife dampens your spiritual
activity and cripples your spiritual capacity. Your desire to pray decreases,
your desire to fellowship deteriorates, you find it necessary to be alone and
commune with God personally without other people. I am not saying this is bad,
but this is a major characteristic of people who have been hit by strife, they
tend to distance themselves from other people.
You and I need to check our love
walk continually, if there is a small gap in our love both for God and for
other people, the devil will penetrate through that gap. Make it a point to
forgive other people, make it a point to smile at people. If there is anyone
who hates you, do not hate back, try by all means to communicate your love
towards them. If you ever see yourself in an argument, stop right there and
repent, ask the person for forgiveness; usually they will encourage you to
continue with the conversation, just hold your silence. Now I want you to know
that there are times when keeping quiet will seem like the most foolish thing
to do. Maybe you’ll be right and they’ll be wrong. It is in times like these
when your character is tested. Folks, even if you know that you are right or
innocent, do not try to justify yourself or prove a point, keep yourself away
from strife, just refuse (shut your mind
against, have nothing to do with) trifling (ill-informed, unedifying, stupid)
controversies over ignorant questionings, for you know that they foster strife
{and} breed quarrels. Keep your silence, even if they say you have
chickened out, just keep your mouth shut. I know very well as much as you do
that you will be burning inside, with a burning desire to just speak and prove
a point, but know that the moment you open your mouth to continue with the
argument or quarrel, you are opening a door of strife to the devil to destroy
your life. Just keep quiet, it will not kill you. Sometimes you need to be
humble enough to ask for forgiveness even if you are 100% sure that you were
right and deserved the apology. You won’t die because of an apology, but rather
you will not open the door of strife to your adversary the devil, who, like a
roaring lion walks up and down seeking whom he may devour. 2 Timothy 2:24 says
”And the servant of the Lord must not be
quarrelsome (fighting and contending). Instead, he must be kindly to everyone
{and} mild-tempered [preserving the bond of peace]; he must be a skilled {and}
suitable teacher, patient {and} forbearing {and} willing to suffer wrong.(AMP)“
Be kind, do not be short-tempered, do not quarrel, but rather be patient,
forbearing and willing to suffer wrong. That means willing to be embarrassed
and humiliated in front of everyone for the sake of keeping away from strife.
It sounds difficult, but with practice you will be the friendliest person in
your environment and the devil will stay away from you, because the strife door
will be closed, locked, sealed and secured. However if there is strife, there
will ”be factions (quarrelling),
jealousy, temper (wrath, intrigues, rivalry, divided loyalties), selfishness,
whispering, gossip, arrogance (self-assertion), and disorder among you“ (2
Corinthians 12:20AMP). Stay away from strife and stay blessed, and remember,
that
Jesus is Lord!!! TLG
eeiiii..........hayaaa
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