Strife is
diametrically opposite to love.
Strife and striving
manifest themselves in hate, anger, bitterness, irritation, disagreement,
disagreeableness, wrath, perversity, transgression, contentions, deceit,
divisions, quarreling, evil suspicions, disputes, reviling, backbiting, envy,
murder, gossip, frustration, angst, selfishness, etc.
Strife, in a
nutshell, is an evil spirit destined to sow discord and distance between human
beings – pushing them apart physically, emotionally, psychologically,
financially, socially, economically, conceptually, etc. Like offense, strife is
a temptation from satan and his crew of demons, but it is one we don’t have to
accept, but one we so easily accept and digest simply because our spirits and
minds are not sharply tuned into the frequency to know when we are operating in
strife.
Strife is ushered
in by pride, the mother sin.
By pride comes nothing but strife,
but with the well-advised is wisdom. (Proverbs 13:10)
God hates pride and any of its fruit. The wisdom
that is with the well-advised is spiritual insight to recognize strife,
know when you are operating in its devilish clutches, know how to get out
post haste, and know how to help others recognize what this critical lesson so
they, too, can get and stay out of its icy cold grip!
Love, on the other
hand, seeks to draw human beings together through cooperation, collaboration,
joint planning, consideration, forgiveness, generosity, giving, mutually
honoring/esteeming/preferring each other, helping, guiding, encouraging, caring
for each other, admonishing, building up each other, teaching, instructing, supervising,
correcting in love, etc.
Getting off of the
love walk and into any situation of strife automatically means getting
temporarily off the path of righteousness (Psalm
23), and temporarily getting out of The Secret Place of the Most High and
from under His Wing. (Psalm 91) The big, fat risk of getting out of love is
how quickly the curse of the law (Deuteronomy 28, which we voluntarily embrace
whenever we turn our backs on walking in love) quickly compounds and widens the
gulf between people and us, and God and us.
Key: Faith works through and by love
In order for our
faith to work effectively, efficiently and unhindered, we must stay in love and
on the well-lit pathway of doing what is right (righteousness). Faith can be
hindered, blocked or rendered ineffective when we walk in strife in any area of
life. Imagine entering into relationships (personal, business, social, etc.)
with people who are inclined to slip easily into, and remain for long periods
of time in strife. The bitterness of strife that has engulfed these people will
eventually embitter every facet of their life, and will eventually spill over
to ruin your life, too.
Strife is a rapidly
spreading, metastasizing, spiritual cancer. Treat it like a venomous snake and
you’ll have no problem with it.
In Galatians
5:19-23, Paul includes strife in a long list of the works of the flesh. He then
he contrasts all of these works with the Fruit of the Spirit. Clearly, strife
is positioned as the fruit of the anti-Christ, not the Fruit of the Spirit:
Now
the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; adultery, fornication,
uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance,
emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envyings, murders, drunkenness,
reveling, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you
in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of
God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering,
gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no
law.
According to this
scripture, operating in strife, to God, is just like practicing witchcraft! Being
married to someone who regularly and easily/helplessly falls into and remains
for extended periods in strife is, therefore, like being married to a witch or
wizard. Prettttttty heavy, but there
it is in black and white. This is written to show us the gravity of these
things, and how diligently we need to lean on God’s grace power to stay out of
it, and to help others to get and stay out of it.
James 3:16 confirms
strife literally opens the flood-gates of hell to allow into our lives every evil thing the devil can throw at
us because we are on his territory when operating in strife:
For where envying and strife
is, there is
confusion and every evil work.
Solomon and Paul
give us the anti-dote for the cancer of strife:
·
A soft
answer turns away wrath, But a harsh word stirs up anger. (Proverbs 15:1)
·
Let
nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind, let each
esteem others better than themselves. (Philippians
2:3)
