Jesus the Messiah was anointed by the Spirit of the Lord. One of the recorded evidences of this was that He would not strive. In our lives one sure way to detect sin is when the flesh is striving against the Holy Spirit.
The flesh, manifested in strife, aspires to notoriety, but the anointing of the Lord seeks nothing of the kind. Did you know that striving is walking improperly, even in dishonesty? How is that? Because strife is a contradiction of how Jesus intended for us to live.
The church at Corinth was both charismatic and carnal. This was in part due to their proud spirit, nitpicking and strife. If you are striving, you are not yielding to the Holy Spirit. In fact, you are grieving Him. Strife is as much a sin of the flesh as immorality, although maybe not as obvious. It is very possible to do outwardly religious activities with fleshly motivation. How each of us needs to repent of striving and vainglory in our walk, our homes, and the church.
When agape is flowing, sin is covered; when hatred is flowing, there is “war in the pews”. Are you a strife-stirrer or a strife-quencher? When you sow strife, you destroy friendships. Strife can make one miserable even when “swimming” in abundance. How can you and I stop strife? Only by the anointing of Christ and a personal decision not to turn on the faucet of my mouth! To love strife is to love sin. To meddle in strife is to play the role of a fool and can be likened to grabbing a ferocious dog by the ears. Gossip and strife are inseparable. Pride and strife go hand in hand. Anger and strife are also linked together.
Listen saints, the servants of the Lord must not strive with one another or with God. Rather, we are to fervently endeavor by yielding to the Holy Spirit to bring the flesh under subjection. Strife is from the pit of hell. Agape does not strive, so supplicate; don’t scream. Compliment, don’t compete. When the Spirit of the Lord is flowing in your life, you will not strive.
