7 Things God Hates One Who Sows Discord Among His Brothers # 7
One Who Sows Discord Among Fellow Believers -something else God hates
Proverbs tells us that God hates one who sows discord among his brothers (KJV and NKJV use the word “brethren”). In the book of Proverbs, Solomon writes about wisdom, prudence, understanding, and how to live. He specifically mentions six things God hates, actually seven that are detestable to Him.
As a child and even as I grew older, I assumed those things were not something of which a Christian could be guilty. For God hates sin, and those of us who belong to Him could not possibly be guilty of doing or being something He hates! Wrong, wrong, wrong.
Recently, I decided to take a close look at all seven of these things. I’ve read this scripture every year for the past dozen years. Yet, I never dug deep under the soil of these verses to find what is hidden there. Join me on this seven-week journey to learn more about the things God hates – and why.
What is Discord?
Discord is disagreement between people, lack of harmony, divisions, or strife. There is nothing agreeable about discord. Friction, tension, back-handedness, and backbiting are seen when there is discord. Sometimes it’s an underlying theme in a situation, and sometimes it is blatantly out in the open where the parties don’t care if everybody knows, and where sometimes the parties want everyone else to know and become involved.
How One Sows
How does a person sow? Any farmer can tell us that the way to sow is to put seed into soil, either by planting seed or by scattering seed on soil. Once the seed comes into contact with good soil, it takes root, germinates, grows, and bears fruit. The product of the seed will not be realized unless it is first planted and allowed to germinate. The person who sows discord is one who deliberately spreads unhappiness, conflict, and discord among others. God hates the one who sows discord.
We sow discord by planting ideas into other people’s minds. In the past year, our country has become rife with discord. Much of that discord was sown by dishonest people in social media or News anchors. Each one uses discord to push his own agenda. As citizens, we become suckers to discord. We do this when we continually listen to and repeat things we hear without considering the quarreling, factiousness, or antagonism we create.
We become like the person who keeps throwing kerosene on a flame, wanting to keep a fire going. As soon as the flame begins to die down, he throws more on the flame, just to keep the (discord, strife) going.
Sometimes we are like the child who keeps prodding at an animal. The animal is harmless, but he keeps poking and prodding until the dog starts snapping and growling. We like the power this makes us feel we have, so we poke some more. When the prodding stops, the dog lies down again. Not content to let well enough alone, we poke a stick at the dog again, and the dog responds by growing and snipping.
Who are our “brethren”?
When the word “brethren” is used in the Bible, it refers to fellow believers. Folks who are part of the Kingdom of Christ, no matter where they live are our brethren, or brothers. Those who live in proximity with us in our church are certainly considered our brothers in Christ. God does not want disharmony in the church. He wants us to work at our differences instead of highlighting them. God wants us to practice harmony in our everyday living with fellow believers so that our relationships are not fractured by discord. God hates the person who causes discord.
So the question we should ask is this: am I guilty of sowing discord? What do I do in my fellowship that promotes harmony, and what do I say or do that causes friction and factions among those who are fellow believers?
The ways we sow discord
It’s a serious charge, to be guilty of sowing discord. There are ways we do this, and if we are honest, we choose to sow discord because of our own pride.
Deliberately poking and prodding at an individual or a group of individuals sows discord. Sometimes we can get individuals to turn on each other by our continual underhanded poking.
Other times we put ideas in people’s minds that are negative toward others. We might not say things out rightly, but we ask questions or give inference that we doubt someone else’s integrity. We have been known to question an idea, an activity, or an agenda all because we don’t like the harmony others have and it makes us feel better if we can cause friction among those of whom we are jealous. For others, there is resentment of authority because we’ve never learned to submit or because we wish we were the one in charge. So we plant negative ideas in the minds of fellow believers in order to sabotage good leadership. Oh, we present it as a concern, but in actuality, we don’t want to be under anyone else’s authority.
It’s a heart issue.
Only God knows our hearts. We must ask Him to check our hearts and tell us if we are guilty of sowing discord. There’s a better way to live, and that is His way.
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