The Bible has a lot to say about causing discord among people. Most of it is found in Proverbs. It may be causing conflicts, restrictions, fights, discord or divisions between people. Let’s see what causes these problems between groups of people and what we can do about it. This will work in any area of life.
1. In Proverbs 6:12-19 we have a description of a person who causes discord followed by seven things that God hates. Verse 15 tells what happens to people who live this kind of lifestyle.
2. We find in Proverbs 15:18a that “An angry man stirs up strife.”
3. In Proverbs 16:28a we are told, “A wicked man sows discord.”
4. Proverbs 22:10 says, “Cast out the scoffer, and strife will come out, and strife and reproach will cease.”
5. Proverbs 26:20 tells us that a “tattletale” causes strife.
6. Proverbs 28:25a says that the proud of heart stirs up strife.
7. Proverbs 29:22a says that an angry man stirs up strife.
So we can see that a person who causes discord through conflict and division has a spiritual problem. Such a person is a mocker, a gossip, angry, proud, wicked, choleric, wicked, hateful. This person is not happy if people get along. He/she is constantly causing people to fight with each other.
This happens in all areas of life. You see it at community gatherings, churches, businesses, schools. There are some people who have a divisive spirit that drives them to bring discord to groups of people. Perhaps you have seen such people. They are not happy when everything goes well. If these people have a hidden agenda, that’s bad news for the social order.
God wants us to have an orderly society. He wants this for us in all areas of our lives. By nature we are sinners. We are selfish. Our carnal spirit is at war with God. God could have destroyed the entire human race in the great flood of Genesis. He saved a family of eight to repopulate the earth. It was not long before the human race again rebelled against God at the tower of Babel. Right at this very moment, most of the people on this planet are at war with God. This war against God has brought chaos to many.
In Proverbs 6:19 we read two things that God hates. He says: “The false witness who speaks lies, and the one who sows discord between brothers.” In Luke 22:24 we find the disciples discussing who will be the greatest in the kingdom of God. Romans 13:13 tells us that we are to walk “honestly.” We are not to walk in “riots and drunkenness, not in lewdness and licentiousness, not in strife and envy.” 1 Corinthians 3:3 tells us that “jealousy, contentions, and divisions” are a sign that we are carnal. Galatians 5:20 mentions strife as one of the works of the flesh. In Philippians 2:3 we are exhorted to do nothing “out of strife or boasting, but in humility, estimating one another more than oneself.” In 1 Timothy 6:3-6 we are shown why there is strife in the Christian community and what to do about it. James tells us in James 3:14 that if we have “bitter envy and strife” in our “hearts,” “we must not lie against the truth.” Then he tells us in verse 16 that “where there is envy and strife, there is confusion and every evil deed.”
There is a solution for all this. When we have God’s peace in our hearts, whatever caused us to be contentious is removed. The only way this is going to happen is salvation from sin and sin through the Lord Jesus Christ.