Strive Not

Where does strife come from: jealousy and greed

(Proverbs 28:25, NKJV)

One of the things that each human being desires to enjoy is peaceable living with all.   We see throughout history that nations progress and have opportunity for greatest growth in periods of peace.  Conversely, during seasons of battle and no peace, the nations are destroyed and all the gains that had been made, are lost.  As human beings, we too crave for human relationships which help us to be at peace with what we do.  Just like nations succeed in peace, it is also an accepted fact that if people want to work together and make progress, there must be an element of agreement of the direction to be pursued. The atmosphere of agreement allows for harmony of direction and when required, it is easier to have necessary negotiations. The issue of peace is so important that the bible calls on us to live in peace with all men as much as we are able to (Romans 12:18).  We cannot therefore over-emphasize the place of peace in our relating with others.  Let us also be reminded that the one thing that Jesus gives to us is His Peace, (John 14:27), this is not the normal peace that we know, but it is a peace that is above human understanding (Philippians 4:7). 

Beloved, if peace is so important in our lives and to God, why then has it become so difficult for us to be at peace?  Looking at our lives, each one of us would realize that we have contributed to conflicts and discord at different times.  Often, we are quick at absolving ourselves from the responsibility of causing the dissent and enmity with others.  I realize this is a hard one to take in, but it is a truth that we know deep down our hearts where others call us out on it or not.  Admittedly, there are times we have acted badly only to wonder later why we behaved in the shameful manner.  The bible might help us. (James 4:1-7) tells us that we fight each other because of the inner desires that hidden pride within us.  It could be our desires to be recognized by others as more superior, or to be considered right, or to win the competition or whatever other reason.  The desire within us hides in pride and causes us to act wrongly towards others thus leading to the fights and hatred.  Our reference verse also calls to our attention that our greed and jealousy are the cause of our fights and troubles with others.  Like pride, greed and jealousy are not visible to the human eye, we only see the actions that emanate from their existence in someone’s heart.

Brethren, while this is difficult to accept, may we in light of God’s word reflect on how our inner desires have impacted our relationships with others.  I know none of us wants to be seen in bad light, but it is worth to take God’s word in the silence of our hearts and ask Him to change us from within.  The verses above confirm to us that the situation arises from heart issues and only God can change our hearts, He is able to give us a pure heart (Psalm 51:10-12), this is the cry of my heart. The condition of our hearts is important to God and whether we know it or not, others also get to know our hearts by our actions and speech.  The bible reminds us that out of the fullness of the heart the mouth speaks (Luke 6:45).  Beloved, just as others get to know our hearts from what we speak, we too can know our heart’s condition from our own words.  May we be sensitive to our own speech and seek God to cleanse us so that we shall speak and connect to others with love, the love of God.

Thoughts:

What is your heart’s reflection of above?

Are you known as a person of peace or conflict?

How can you improve peace in your sphere of influence?