“FREEDOM FROM STRIFE”
Missionary-Evangelist
God has laid a message on my heart today that affects every one of
us, and that is: “How to have Freedom from Strife”. God wants us to have a
peace-ruled marriage, home, church, and in all that concerns us - to be at
peace with others.
I keep telling my husband that if he would realize that I am always
right, that it would cure the strife problem!
Seriously, let’s take a good look at strife and see what God’s Word
says about it.
For where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil
work.
Another version says:
“For wherever there is jealousy (envy) and contention (rivalry and
selfish ambition), there will also be confusion (unrest, disharmony, rebellion)
and all sorts of evil and vile practices.”
Strife is: bickering, arguing, heated disagreement or an angry
undercurrent; fighting; or a struggle between rivals. Strife is the opposite of
peace.
One lady said that God revealed to her how the spirit of strife had
been working deception in her family bloodline for generations. Her family had
a history of conflict and divorces and brothers and sisters mad at one another.
When strife enters in, everything gets out of control. Judgment and criticism
can open the door to strife.
We are to walk in love, being abundant in mercy, and being quick to
overlook a fault in someone else.
I. There are 3 doors in our lives where strife can enter:
1. The door of our lips: wrong words or words spoken at the wrong
time
Proverbs 15:1
A soft answer turneth away wrath: but
grievous words stir up anger.
Instead of insisting we are right, we need to let the Holy Spirit
do the convincing. It is better to live in peace than to get our own way all of
the time.
Prov.
When someone insults us or hurts our feelings, we could quickly
speak out of our wounded emotions, but it would be better to ignore the insult
and let God deal with the person. There are times to confront people but it is
vital to walk in peace and be slow to anger. Don’t fuel the fire and open the
door for strife.
2. The door of pride
Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and
the other a publican. [11] The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican.
[12] I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all
that I possess. [13] And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so
much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be
merciful to me a sinner. [14] I tell you, this man went down to his house
justified rather than the other: for every one that exalteth
himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.
Proverbs 13:10
By pride and insolence comes only contention, but with the
well-advised is skillful and godly wisdom.
3. The Door of Debate: History tells us that the Pharisees spent a
lot of time debating the scripture. One of the words for strife is “debate”. As
long as we think we know everything, we do not know anything. We need to
realize that we all have a lot to learn.
Believers are to avoid strife.
“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. (2 Tim. 2:24).
Why do people strive so desperately to be right about things? “Why
is it so difficult to be wrong?
Sometimes people are so unsure about who they are that, in order to
feel confident at all, they have to think that they are right all of the time
and go to great extremes to prove it.
II. Great spiritual power is released through unity and harmony
(Acts
In the book of Acts, they operated in great power. What were some
of the reasons for this:
1. They had the same vision, goal and were all pressing toward the
same mark.
2. They prayed in agreement (Acts
3. They lived in harmony (Acts
4. Cared for one another (Acts
5. Met each other’s needs (Acts
6. Lived a life of faith (Acts
(Phlp. 2:2) “Fill up and complete my joy
by living in harmony and being of the same mind and one in purpose, having the
same love, being in full accord and of one harmonious mind and intention.”
Strife is the result of selfishness. To live in harmony, we must be
willing to forgive quickly and frequently. We must not be easily offended. We
must be generous in mercy, and we must be long-suffering (patient).
III. We must hunger for peace
It is only possible to have a blessed, powerful life when we have
peace. Peace binds us to the precious Holy Spirit as He is the Spirit of Peace.
“Peace I leave with you; My peace I now
give…to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your hearts be
troubled, neither let them be afraid. (Stop allowing yourselves to be agitated
and disturbed; and do not permit yourselves to be fearful and intimidated and
cowardly and unsettled).” (
God is not pleased with religious sacrifices in a house full of
strife. We can do a lot of religious things but lack peace in our homes.
Proverbs 17:1
Better is a dry morsel, and quietness
therewith, than an house full of sacrifices with strife.
Sometimes Christians are like they are window shopping! They can
see things but not possess them. We can talk power, prosperity, healing and
success but not possess them.
IV. Good leaders must confront the issue of strife or it will
spread throughout their organization. A mess behind the scenes will always
cause visible problems.
It’s not really a problem for us to deal with issues now as we do
it to the best of our ability, trusting God to help us treat people the way He
would treat them.
Strife is a killer. It kills the anointing, the blessings, the
prosperity, the peace and the joy. Let us keep it out of our lives. Determine
that strife is not going to steal from you what is rightfully yours as a child
of God. We may wonder why we are not prospering even though we are giving to
God or why your life is lacking in power. Do we have strife in our marriage,
our home or in our ministry? Do all that you can to keep it from coming near you.
We must trust God to take care of us:
God is our defense, our vindicator and our reward (Ps. 27:1).
(I Pet. 5:6) “Therefore humble yourselves (demote, lower yourselves
in your own estimation) under the mighty hand of God, that in due time He may
exalt you.”
Refusing to try to take care of yourself
produces humility, and that act of faith places the believer in the direct line
of God’s exaltation.
V. We are to seek peace and pursue it. It should be our primary
goal in our church or group. If we see a person in the Lord becoming angry or
getting upset, we should help restore them to peace if possible. We should be
peacemakers.
1. Strife hinders the anointing
One person can release strife in a church by gossiping, fault-finding,
or carrying resentment of the leadership.
In one church, a lady got saved and filled with the Spirit
(supposedly) and the pastor was happy for her. But, soon the pastor felt
something was wrong and there was a heaviness there.
She found out that this lady was releasing curses and such against her in the
meeting. The lady soon left but it took months to repair the damage that had
been done. But, fortunately the church survived the attack and was made
stronger because of it.
2. Strife affects our health: Strife brings stress and stress
brings sickness. Our bodies were not created for strife but for righteousness,
peace and joy.
Our bodies need rest even from normal stress. Living in faith means
entering into God’s rest (Heb. 4:3). We must take measures to avoid more than
we can manage. We must rest, eat right, laugh enough and cast our care on God.
Are we out of balance? Living in extremes? How often do you get angry? How long
do you stay angry?
3. Live Positively: negative thoughts,
words, and emotions cause stress and stress can cause sickness. Positive ones
bring health and healing.
(Prov. 14:30) “A calm and undisturbed
mind and heart are the life and health of the body, but envy, jealousy and
wrath are like rottenness of the bones.”
Meditating on God’s Word and not on the things that cause stress,
brings healing and health to us. When the mind is calm, health is protected.
The wise man trusts in God rather than worrying. We can cast our care upon God
instead of worrying.
We can speak words of healing to others by being wise:
Prov.
Prov.
VI. Some areas of strife:
1. Strife with ourselves: Poor self image
2. Strife with God: A hidden rift with God is the cause of many
emotional problems.
A few years ago,
One man who lost his son to cancer bitterly asked God, “Where were
you when my son died?” The Lord replied, “The same place I was when Mine died.” It is never our place to criticize God.
3. Strife with your fellowman:
Divorce issue: The Lord does not desire for any marriage to end in
divorce but He brought it into existence because of the hardness of man’s
heart.
But, if a person absolutely does not want to be in relationship
with you, but you keep trying to force it, it will never produce anything but
strife, which opens the door for all kinds of other problems.
It is helpful in relationships, whether marriage or other, to
magnify the positive aspects of the person’s life and ignore the negative ones.
Mt. 5:7 “If we sow mercy; we will reap mercy.”
Learn to magnify the positive in another’s life and then when you
disagree, you can do it agreeably!
Communication is the number one problem in many relationships.
People don’t know how to disagree agreeably. Communication happens when all
parties can express their hearts in a godly way. Showing respect in our
attitudes, voice tones, facial expressions and body language is the key in
learning how to disagree agreeably. Most people don’t mind if you have a
different opinion than they do if you don’t make them feel as if their opinion
is of no value. There is a wise way to talk to people and a way that is not
wise.
4. Strife between parents and children: Do not break the spirit of
your child with harsh or undue correction, or he will rebel. Fathers should not
irritate or provoke their children to anger or resentment but rear them in the
counsel of the Lord. (Eph. 6:4).
Freedom is one of the greatest gifts we can give a person. Love
liberates a person to be what God designed them to be. It does not try to
manipulate them for personal gain. Love helps people overcome their weaknesses
and eventually transforms them into the lovely creatures God had in mind
initially. There is a saying: “If you love someone, set him free, and if it’s
true love, he will come back to you.”
It is time to destroy strife so that relationships can be built.
VII. The chastisement of our peace was upon
1. Forgive others as He has forgiven you
2. Peace is our heritage - Strife is not just a problem between
people but within a person - Allow God to reveal to you the root of your
problem that is robbing you of peace - Let peace have the deciding vote in the
choices that you make -
3. Spiritual Warfare is not only rebuking the devil, but in walking
in love and obedience and then the devil will flee and the angels will fight
for you.
Isa. 41:10-16 “Fear not (there is nothing to fear),
for I am with you; do not look around you in terror and be dismayed, for I am
your God. I will strengthen and harden you to difficulties, yes, I will help
you; yes, I will hold you up and retain you with My
(victorious) right hand of rightness and justice.
Behold, all they who are enraged and inflamed against
you shall be put to shame and confounded; they who strive against you shall be
as nothing and shall perish. You shall seek those who contend with you but
shall not find them; they who war against you shall be as nothing, as nothing
at all.
For I the Lord your God hold your right hand; I am the Lord, who
says to you, Fear not; I will help you!
Fear not, you worm
You shall winnow them, and the wind shall carry them away, and the
tempest or whirlwind shall scatter them. And you shall rejoice in the Lord, you
shall glory in the Holy One of Israel.”
A paraphrase of these verses:
Don’t be afraid of anything. Do not allow anything to get you
upset. Don’t start looking all around you at the circumstances; don’t start
worrying. Remain peaceful, I am your God. I will help you; I will hold you up.
When we feel like we are going to cave in, we have His promise to hold us up!
All those in strife against you, those who come at you with a
spirit of contention and war, shall end up as nothing. So hold your peace. As
you hold your peace, I can work because it shows that you are
trusting Me.
I am doing a new thing in you during these trying times. I am
turning you into a new, sharp threshing machine that will mow down the enemy.
Your reward will be glory and joy.
Peace as spiritual warfare may be a new way of thinking, especially
for those who have spent all of their life trying to fight their own battles.
You cannot fight with someone who will not fight back.
In Ex. 14:13-14, Moses told the people not to fear, to stand still
and see the slvation of the Lord, because the Lord would
fight for them and they should hold their peace and remain at rest.
Let a holy determination rise up within you to keep your peace and
enjoy it. And, remember to wear your “shoes of peace” when you go into battle.
VIII. The Warfare of Love:
Like a sparkling diamond, love has nine facets: patience, kindness,
generosity, humility, courtesy; unselfishness; good temper; guilelessness; and
sincerity.
How often the adsence of love opens a
door for the spirit of strife. Had love been there when strife knocked at the
door, it would have found no entrance.
IX. How strife affects the anointing: The Holy Spirit gives the
anointing, and strife grieves Him.
Peace and power are married and support each other - And, unity
brings forth the anointing (Psa. 133). Strife will do
just the opposite - it will hinder the anointing. That’s why He taught
forgiveness as He did.
The anointing flows down from the head (Psa.
133) - The husband is anointed to lead the family. If the wife is in strife
with him, there will be struggle. She must stay under his covering.
When an individual is in strife with the head, the anointing cannot
flow down to that person and his work will be affected. God has designed
leadership to preserve order. God called
Protect the anointing on your life by keeping strife out.
Zech. 4:6 Things are not accomplished by might nor power, but by
His Spirit. Stay peaceful and calm; be quick to forgive, slow to anger,
patient, and kind.
Change many times can bring stress. But, God intends for change to
bring us into a greater realm of glory. God brings progress but
(Mt. 12:25) “Any kingdom that is divided against itself
is being brought to desolation and laid waste, and no city or house divided
against itself will last or continue to stand.”
The first principle for overcoming strife is to learn to recognize
and deal with it.
Prov. 17:14 says, “The beginning of strife is as when
water first trickles (from a crack in a dam); therefore stop contention before
it becomes worse and quarreling breaks out.”
Choose to build your life and maintain it on a foundation of God’s
peace.
You have a unique call upon your life. God has pre-arranged for you
to have a powerful and productive life. You can complete the work that He has
called you to do. The anointing of God is upon you for whatever your task.
Don’t block the flow by allowing strife in your life. Be all that God has
called you to be. Live at peace with yourself, with God and with your
fellowman.
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“Life Without Strife” by
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Dear Friends,
I trust that this topic of “strife” has been of help to you as it
affects everyone of us! May God bless you in this new year with His wonderful peace!
