We had this big, ol' pig on my son's farm called Agnes. Agnes has sadly gone to the great farm in the sky, but while she was here, Agnes l-o-v-e-d her mud. If you wrestled with her you would surely end up in the mud, and I think that made her happy.
We can learn a lesson from this old gal. For a moment, I will liken this pig to the devil (poor Agnes) to say the devil is wanting to attrack us to his mud! When we get into the pig's world, the pig holds the adventage. But if we go into the devil's territory with our armour on, we have the advantage.
The devil is spreading a spirit of strife all over this nation and, if we're not careful, we can end up rolling in his "pig pen" - only to discover it's exactly what he wanted in the first place!
Have you noticed how easy it is to get into an argument over current events? It goes beyond defending a particular side. Even casual comments seem to erupt into a battle. It didn't used to be this way. What has changed?
There's a spiritual component we must recognize and be prepared for!
The Lord told me: "The devil wants you divided, offended, and impotent."
IMPOTENT? Yes. The word impotent means: POWERLESS, ineffective, inadequate, weak, feeble, useless, worthless, and UNABLE.
The church in Corinth was divided and filled with envy and strife. ". . . for you are still carnal. For where there are envy, strife, and divisions among you, are you not carnal and behaving like mere men?" (1 Corinthians 3:3) As a result, they didn't have ears to hear Paul's teaching, and slipped into vain arguements. Though they were endued with many gifts, strife rendered them powerless. Their spiritual growth was stunted.
The word "strife" means debat, discord, conflict and selfish rivalry. (1) This is what the devil is doing all across this nation.
The devil knows that a house divided against itself cannot stand (Ephesians 4:13).
We can't let ourselves go into the devil's pig pen, friends. Many of us are in families where politics cannot be discussed. Rather than trying to prove our side, let's choose the high road and concentrate upon those things we do agree upon.
I have a friend who is on opposite ends from me on many topics - except one - that we love each other. That's our firm foundation. When we try to prove one side is right over the other we threaten that love. It's okay to have a healthy debat, but as we have become more passionate about our differing views it hasn't stayed healthy. I found myself not wanting to be with her. That's when I woke up to the fact that it was greater than a difference of opinion, we were butting up against spiritual wickedness wanting to divide good friends. The last thing I want to do is feed into that!
"For we don't wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, againsst the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places" (Ephesians 6:12).
Unity in the bond of peace is more important than proving our point.
Psalm 133:1 says "How wonderful and pleasant it is when brothers [and sisters] live together in harmony."
"I appeal to you, brothers and sister, by the authority of our Lord Jesus Christ, to live in harmony with each other. Let there be no divisions in the church. Rather, be of one mind, united in thought and purpose" (1 Corinthians 1:10).
If you're like me, I don't like to get muddy. Let's keep our garments clean and refuse to enter into alienating conversations.
Love Marji
(1) Grant Richison, Verse by Verse Commentary, 1 Corinthians 3:3 July 14, 2002.