Striving or Strife?
There are those who thrive on strife.
Constantly finding fault, nitpicking, bickering, starting trouble,
making mountains out of mole hills, and trying to making their senseless
issues yours. They live and thrive on the chaos. The more commotion going on the more they can spread strife and enjoy the adrenaline of the struggle.
This
type of person has to constantly have some kind of issue in their life
to feed their discontentment. This is how they hide the corruption that
comes from within, so they do not have to face themselves.
These are the same ones who complain the most. Exclaiming, “It’s not my fault, woe is me!”
These people can not handle a peaceful, quiet, calm, and serene lifestyle. A lifestyle that seeks the peaceful rest of God. (Hebrews 4:9-11)
Strife can manifest its ugly head equally oppressing heathens, atheists, and Believers alike. For the Christian it is detrimental
to the process of spiritual maturity and sanctification; requiring
obedience to live in contentment and harmony with God or man.
Strife can be defined as the act of striving or vying with others; contention or competition, discord, antagonism. Strife is an act or state of fighting or quarreling, struggling, and clashing with others esp. bitterly; heated often violent conflict or disagreement.
Striving can be defined as trying very hard to do or achieve something by making great efforts to achieve or obtain something.
Evil
comes from those who are striving for strife. Strife is a dangerous sin
that opens a door to the demonic. It gives malevolent forces license to
bring confusion and evil into our lives.
But
if you have bitter envy and self-seeking in your hearts, do not boast
and lie against the truth. This wisdom does not descend from above, but
is earthly, sensual, demonic. For where envy and self-seeking exist,
confusion and every evil thing are there. But the wisdom that is from
above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of
mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy. Now the
fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace. (James 3:14-18)
Strive for Good
Then
what are we to do? Don’t join in the insanity of the sins causing the
strife. Don’t let yourself be sucked into the follies of the fools
surrounding you.
It is honorable for a man to stop striving, Since any fool can start a quarrel. (Proverbs 20:3)
Choose
to be a part of the solution and not a part of the problem. Keep calm
and let the fires pass. Contentious people seek fuel from any source
which stirs their evil from within.
Where there is no wood, the fire goes out; And where there is no talebearer, strife ceases. (Proverbs 26:20)
By remaining Christ-like in your demeanor,
you bear strong witness of the gospel truths of the Lord. This ensures
your walk is your witness and not a hindrance to the grace of God.
Only
let your conduct be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I
come and see you or am absent, I may hear of your affairs, that you
stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith
of the gospel, and not in any way terrified by your adversaries, which
is to them a proof of perdition, but to you of salvation, and that from
God. (Philippians 1:27-28)
But
avoid foolish and ignorant disputes, knowing that they generate strife.
And a servant of the Lord must not quarrel but be gentle to all, able
to teach, patient, in humility correcting those who are in opposition,
if God perhaps will grant them repentance, so that they may know the
truth, and that they may come to their senses and escape the snare of
the devil, having been taken captive by him to do his will. (2 Timothy 2:23-26)
Satan’s Perversion
Satan’s
desire is that you open the door to strife. This is the carnal
atmosphere that allows him to operate in your life and relationships.
This door leads to the breeding grounds of evil. (James 3:16)
Satan
wants you to fight, bicker, and join in the strife of others. He
desperately wants you to always have the last word in an argument. Especially, an argument where you feel like you deserve to give someone a piece of your mind.
Satan
wants your faith made impotent. He relentlessly brings you a torrent of
opportunities to flood your life with strife. Thereby washing away your
love that comes from Christ. Drawing you into his traps intentionally
set to entangled you in strife.
We know that we are of God, and the whole world lies under the sway of the wicked one. (1 John 5:19)
Keep me from the snares they have laid for me, And from the traps of the workers of iniquity. (Psalm 141:9)
Peaceful Contentment
There
is a myriad of opportunities in the world that lead to strife. It is a
Christian’s duty to strive against these pitfalls. Don’t let the world,
society, false prophets, your environment, and even your friends and
family deceive you.
Run from those who seek to steal your joy and contentment in the Lord Jesus Christ.
If
anyone teaches otherwise and does not consent to wholesome words, even
the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to the doctrine which accords
with godliness, he is proud, knowing nothing, but is obsessed with
disputes and arguments over words, from which come envy, strife,
reviling, evil suspicions, useless wranglings of men of corrupt minds
and destitute of the truth, who suppose that godliness is a means of
gain. From such withdraw yourself. Now godliness with contentment is
great gain. (1 Timothy 6:3-6)
- Have you ever wondered why it may seem that your prayers go unanswered?
- Are you confused as to why your tithe goes unblessed?
- Are you sick of everything in life being a struggle?
- Are you tired of being unhealthy and unhappy?
- Are you a part of the solution or the problem?
- Are you living with strife in your life?
- Are you listening to Satan and the world or are you listening to God?
Striving for Blessed Obedience is the answer to your strife. Acknowledge the Lord’s urging word within you heart. Cease to be a part of the problems causing struggles in your life. Let the fools folly in their quarrels.
Contemplate your Contentment in Christ.
~ Be Blessed Without Strife ~
“Now
it shall come to pass, if you diligently obey the voice of the Lord
your God, to observe carefully all His commandments which I command you
today, that the Lord your God will set you high above all nations of the
earth. And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you,
because you obey the voice of the Lord your God:
“Blessed
shall you be in the city, and blessed shall you be in the country.
“Blessed shall be the fruit of your body, the produce of your ground and
the increase of your herds, the increase of your cattle and the
offspring of your flocks. “Blessed shall be your basket and your
kneading bowl. “Blessed shall you be when you come in, and blessed shall
you be when you go out.
“The
Lord will cause your enemies who rise against you to be defeated before
your face; they shall come out against you one way and flee before you
seven ways. “The Lord will command the blessing on you in your
storehouses and in all to which you set your hand, and He will bless you
in the land which the Lord your God is giving you.
“The
Lord will establish you as a holy people to Himself, just as He has
sworn to you, if you keep the commandments of the Lord your God and walk
in His ways. Then all peoples of the earth shall see that you are
called by the name of the Lord, and they shall be afraid of you. And the
Lord will grant you plenty of goods, in the fruit of your body, in the
increase of your livestock, and in the produce of your ground, in the
land of which the Lord swore to your fathers to give you.
The
Lord will open to you His good treasure, the heavens, to give the rain
to your land in its season, and to bless all the work of your hand. You
shall lend to many nations, but you shall not borrow. And the Lord will
make you the head and not the tail; you shall be above only, and not be
beneath, if you heed the commandments of the Lord your God, which I
command you today, and are careful to observe them. So you shall not
turn aside from any of the words which I command you this day, to the
right or the left, to go after other gods to serve them. (Deuteronomy 28:1-14)
~
Every Believer in Jesus the Christ is an adopted heir to the King of Kings and worthy of all the covenants established by God. You are an integral part of Israel; a united body of Christ called His Church. <– Click to learn more.
that the Gentiles should be fellow heirs, of the same body, and partakers of His promise in Christ through the gospel, (Ephesians 3:6)
Ever since the first mixed multitude of people walked out of Egypt, (Exodus 12:38) to the very next person to call upon Jesus for Salvation is grafted into the body of Christ the Church called Israel. <– Click to learn more. (Romans 12:5), (1 Corinthians 10:17), (1 Corinthians 12:27), (Ephesians 4:12), (Hebrews 13:3), (Ephesians 5:23), and last but not least (Colossians 1:24).
Everything
taught here in this article is nothing new and has been an ongoing
issue since the dawn of man. The Lord’s desire is not to just have a
united Church body.
God
desires that all Believers think act and love in the best interest of
each other. God does not want fighting and bickering to rule the day. He
wants us Striving to Love and nurture one another as one body in one
accord.
Fulfill my joy by being like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind. (Philippians 2:2)
that you may with one mind and one mouth glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. (Romans 15:6)
Be a Believer who is Striving in Love and Running from Strife!
