Our study in the book of James has arrived at a key question in chapter four, verse one. He asks, “What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you?” The apostle was trying to demonstrate that arguments and fights originate in the hearts of men and women. We can’t blame our circumstances, or the behavior of others for our battles.
And those battles bring a whole host of problems that a quarrelsome person ends up having to deal with. Their attitude and actions yield them to a wide range of hurts and difficulties, not the least of which is a lack of focus on better things.
Once we lose control and start any kind of verbal ping-pong, regardless of the volume of the discussion, our minds are drawn away from anything that resembles the fruit of the
Spirit. Nothing lovely crops up on our mental “screen.” Nothing good happens. There is no focus on kindness or gentleness. And peace is lost, at least for the duration of the verbal skirmish.
I wonder how much we really lose in those moments…
I read a quick story that speaks to that issue from a book titled, Mountains in the Midst by Frank W. Boreham. It seems that around the time when Napoleon was marching across Europe, men were following his progress with bated breath. They were waiting feverishly for news of the war. “And all the while in their own homes, babies were being born. But who could think about babies?
Everybody was thinking about battles. In one year, there stole into a world a host of heroes. Gladstone was born in Liverpool, England, and Tennyson at Somersby. Oliver Wendell Holmes was born in Massachusetts. The very same day of that same year, Charles Darwin made his debut at Shrewsbury. Abraham Lincoln drew his first breath in Old Kentucky, and music was enriched by the birth of Felix Mendelssohn in Hamburg.”
But nobody thought about those babies. Everybody was thinking about the battles.”
This might be an opportune moment to think through how much we really lose when we engage in a verbal altercation. Our concentration on those battles draws us away from the things that we are supposed to be thinking about.
So, this week, let’s all think more about “the babies” than “the battles.”
And those battles bring a whole host of problems that a quarrelsome person ends up having to deal with. Their attitude and actions yield them to a wide range of hurts and difficulties, not the least of which is a lack of focus on better things.
Once we lose control and start any kind of verbal ping-pong, regardless of the volume of the discussion, our minds are drawn away from anything that resembles the fruit of the
Spirit. Nothing lovely crops up on our mental “screen.” Nothing good happens. There is no focus on kindness or gentleness. And peace is lost, at least for the duration of the verbal skirmish.
I wonder how much we really lose in those moments…
I read a quick story that speaks to that issue from a book titled, Mountains in the Midst by Frank W. Boreham. It seems that around the time when Napoleon was marching across Europe, men were following his progress with bated breath. They were waiting feverishly for news of the war. “And all the while in their own homes, babies were being born. But who could think about babies?
Everybody was thinking about battles. In one year, there stole into a world a host of heroes. Gladstone was born in Liverpool, England, and Tennyson at Somersby. Oliver Wendell Holmes was born in Massachusetts. The very same day of that same year, Charles Darwin made his debut at Shrewsbury. Abraham Lincoln drew his first breath in Old Kentucky, and music was enriched by the birth of Felix Mendelssohn in Hamburg.”
But nobody thought about those babies. Everybody was thinking about the battles.”
This might be an opportune moment to think through how much we really lose when we engage in a verbal altercation. Our concentration on those battles draws us away from the things that we are supposed to be thinking about.
So, this week, let’s all think more about “the babies” than “the battles.”
Sherry Worel
Sherry Worel is a Bible teacher at heart and lives a life of ministry. She’s been involved at Coast Hills teaching Women’s LIFE, Bible studies, online courses, devotionals, participating in Upstream conversations, and much more. Having a love for education, Sherry has over 50 years of teaching experience with schools, churches, and mission agencies. As well as earning her Master’s at Talbot Seminary, she rounded out her education with 35 years as Head of School at Stoneybrooke Christian School. Sherry is happiest with a book or fishing pole in hand.