Wisdomfied part 16-Strife

Prepare your heart: Read Matthew 15:16-20.  Reflect on how often our culture points to everything but but the sin nature to explain violent behavior?  Pray that God would open up your heart to hear His words for you today.

Jesus had a lot to say about the feelings in our heart that we don’t act on.  Matthew 5:21,22 describes the situation this way-though you may not murder, to feel the feelings for anger on the inside, by the court (His Father’s judgment) you are guilty of eternal punishment if not covered by the blood of Christ.  It is easy to read verses about murder and revenge and think it doesn’t apply to us.  Yet if one looks deeper, we may be harboring feelings inside that could lead to these actions.  Matthew 5 calls us into account to pray for a softened heart, and give those feelings over to God.  Have you ever been secretly glad when something bad happens to someone you don’t like very much? You may be guilty of revenge.  Have you ever been so angry you pictured physically hurting someone?  You may be guilty of violence.  What I am sharing today is not to shame you, but to encourage you to honestly look at the motives of your heart and see if confession is in order (1 Samuel 16:7). 

Look up the following verses in Proverbs and in note-style; list what you learn about each one.  Write a one-sentence summary of what you learn about each topic.  Then when you are done, find one thing that applies to your life.  This could be confession to the Lord, reconciliation with a friend, or even prayer to change your heart in one area. 

Strife

Soliciting Evil

·         1:10-19

·         16:29

·         25:26

·         27:3

·         28:10

Violence

·         3:31,32

·         21:7,29

Murder

·         28:17

Revenge

·         3:29,30

·         20:22

·         24:28,29

Dissension

·         6:16-19

·         17:1

·         18:18,19

·         26:17