Proverbs 6:16-19. 16There are six things that the Lord hates, seven that are an abomination to him: 19… and one who sows discord among brothers.
We’ve come to the last of the seven sins on Solomon’s list. God hates sin. He hates pride, lies, violence, making wicked plans, running toward evil, telling lies, and sowing discord. The person who sows discord causes strife. They cause disagreements and disrupt unity.
Notice the proverbs doesn’t say that they drop giant boulders of discord. No, they sow discord. Like planting a small seed in the soil and then watching it grow, when you sow discord you say and do little things that become much bigger problems. We already know that all of these sins begin in the heart. Maybe a heart like Haman’s, full of envy and feeling slighted all the time. Or maybe a heart like the gossiping widows of 1 Timothy, they were full of insecurities, bored, and trying to be know-it-alls. Or like Diotrephes in 3 John, who always put himself first and refused to honor authority.
Does any of this sound familiar?
How do we cure ourselves of this evil? Again, Pastor James has the answer.
James 4:1-3. 1What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you? 2You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not ask. 3You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions.
What is James’ diagnosis? We sow discord (quarrels and fights) because of the warring passions within us. Rather than ask God, in faith and according to his will, to satisfy all our needs in Christ, we expect others to satisfy the longings that only an infinite God can satisfy. Solution: let God satisfy your every need in and through the love and life of Christ in you. Only then will there be no more need for envy, insecurity, discord, quarrels or fights.
Now, as James also said, we can sow seeds that reap a harvest of righteousness and peace (3:18).
Now we can be the blessed peacemakers of the Kingdom.
Now we can put aside all malice and hypocrisy and evil speech, and speak truth in love to one another.
Now we can strive to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
How? By trusting in the peace of Christ that dwells in us. That’s the seed that the Spirit has sown in us – peace. Peace with God and the peace of God. Both are ours in Christ. The more we believe this, the more we trust his peace with our whole hearts, the more we live from the truth of his union with us and all believers, the less we will need to sow the seeds of discord and strife.
You: In what ways have you been sowing discord lately?
You in Christ: How does trusting that you have peace with God allow you to seek peace with others?
Christ in you: How can you be a peacemaker today rather than a discord sower?
Pray: Father, cause me to sow peace and righteousness wherever I go, knowing that you have sown the peace of Christ in me. Amen.
To Live is Christ 