Keep the Strife out of Your Life

“Heat and Animosity, contest and conflict, may sharpen the wits, although they rarely do; they never strengthen the understanding, clear the perspicacity, guide the judgment, or improve the heart.”

—WALTER SAVAGE LANDOR

It is an honor for a man to cease from strife and keep aloof from it, but every fool will quarrel.

—Proverbs 20:3

When we talk about strife, we’re talking about all of the bickering, arguing, heated disagreement, and angry undercurrents. We can experience strife with friends, family, and the day-to-day tasks of life. The Bible teaches us the servant of the Lord must not get caught up in strife (see 2 Timothy 2:23–24). It says we are to have nothing to do with trifling, (ill-informed, unedifying, stupid) controversies over ignorant questionings, because they foster strife and breed quarrels.

To keep conflict and discord out of our lives, we must be willing to avoid conversations that lead to distress and turmoil. I can tell when Dave and I are having a conversation that is becoming a bit heated. I often choose to just drop it because, on those occasions, what we are debating is, often, something not worth arguing about. It may even be something we are not well informed enough to be discussing anyway.

Our human desire to be right often leads us to a great deal of strife. In order to keep dissension and disputes out of your life, entertain the idea that even though you really think you are right, there is a possibility you are wrong. Being right is highly overrated anyway. We cause all kinds of problems just by trying to prove we are right, and what good does it really do in the end? It satisfies the flesh, but God has called us to peace.

Let’s go back to that definition of strife: arguing, bickering, heated conversations, and an angry undercurrent. All this makes me feel life is really complicated, but peace is simple and sweet. Strife blocks our blessings and opens the door for all kinds of trouble. Strife weakens us, but agreement increases our power. As the old saying goes, “United we stand, divided we fall.”

The next time you have an argument with someone, stop and ask yourself if what you’re discussing is actually worth losing your peace over.