The enemy likes to put strife in the relationships that we have inside and outside the home. Strife is a angry undercurrent that lies between two or more people. When there is strife between people, there is a division between them. It is a little attitude towards someone. It is what can cause constant arguments and disagreements. Strife makes us not get along with others. We may have a smile on our face towards the other person but we have strife in our hearts towards that person and our smile turns into a frown really quick. We bicker and fuss with a lot with the people that we have strife with. We just can’t seem to get along with them.

How many relationships do you see that has strife in them? Sadly it is way more than I would like to see. We see it in homes, work places, church, and in society all together. People just can not seem to get along with each other now days. Pride and selfishness are a large cause of strife but as Christians we can lay aside our pride and selfishness to keep the strife out of our lives. We do not have to live in constant disagreement with others.

I lived with strife in my marriage for several years and it did not only affect me, it affected everyone in the household. I had constant underlying attitude that showed it’s face at the drop of a hat. I did not know what was going on in me but I knew something was making me the way that I was. I would get upset over the smallest things and would stomp around the house, slamming drawers, making as much noise as I could to let my husband know that I was not happy. And as soon as we would start to have a difference of opinion I would get an attitude and we would argue. Then one day I asked the Lord what was going on with me and the word strife came to my mind. I had never heard of the word before that day so I had to research the word and what it meant. It was exactly what was going on with me. My problem was that I had let things build up inside of me for a very long time because I would always try to avoid conflict and would just let things go on. By me not wanting to face conflict I ended up creating conflict.

God wants us to have healthy relationships with others and keep the strife out of our lives. We can choose to get along with others and lay our personal feelings aside. We do not have to agree with or like everything that someone else does. We do not have to condone what others do. We do not have to like everyone. But we do have to get along with others and keep strife out of our lives. We should always do our best to talk out disagreements with others and allow others to feel how they want to feel. Just because they feel a certain way does not mean that you are wrong. Just because they perceive something in a different way than we do does not make them wrong and us right or vise versa.

I have found that I am able to keep strife out of my life by allowing others to be who they are and accepting myself the way that I am. I had to start not expecting everyone to understand or agree with me. I had to learn to let God take care of the things that I felt I was wronged about. I had to realize that I had to believe the best in all situations instead of believing the worst. I had to decide that I was going to be quick to forgive others that did or said something that hurt me. I had to decide that they were acting out of their own pain and that they probably did not mean to hurt me.  I had to humble myself and be the first one to say that I am sorry even if I did nothing wrong. I knew that I could end a disagreement by saying those three words but let me tell you, it was one of the hardest things that I had to do in the beginning. But now I say it with ease because I know that it can keep strife out of my life.

Don’t walk around being angry with people. It does nothing but cause strife in your home and in your relationships. If you want to allow the enemy to keep discontentment and dissatisfaction in your life, having strife is a good way for him to do it. He plays on our emotions and tries to use them against us. But if we decide that we are going to believe for the best, let God take care of our injustices, be quick to forgive and let it go, and be the first to say that we are sorry, then we can keep the strife out of our lives, defeating the enemy every time.