Strife: General Scriptures Concerning
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Genesis 13:8
So Abram said to Lot, “Please let there be no contention between you and me, or between your herdsmen and my herdsmen. After all, we are brothers.
Genesis 45:24
Then Joseph sent his brothers on their way, and as they were leaving, he said to them, “Do not quarrel on the way!”
Deuteronomy 1:12
But how can I bear your troubles, burdens, and disputes all by myself?
Psalm 31:20
You hide them in the secret place of Your presence from the schemes of men. You conceal them in Your shelter from accusing tongues.
Psalm 55:9
O Lord, confuse and confound their speech, for I see violence and strife in the city.
Psalm 80:6
You make us contend with our neighbors; our enemies mock us.
Proverbs 3:20
By His knowledge the watery depths were broken open, and the clouds dripped with dew.
Proverbs 6:12–14, 16–19
A worthless person, a wicked man, walks with a perverse mouth, / winking his eyes, speaking with his feet, and pointing with his fingers. / With deceit in his heart he devises evil; he continually sows discord.
Proverbs 10:12
Hatred stirs up dissension, but love covers all transgressions.
Proverbs 13:10
Arrogance leads only to strife, but wisdom is with the well-advised.
Proverbs 15:18
A hot-tempered man stirs up strife, but he who is slow to anger calms dispute.
Proverbs 16:28
A perverse man spreads dissension, and a gossip divides close friends.
Proverbs 17:1, 14, 19
Better a dry morsel in quietness than a house full of feasting with strife. / To start a quarrel is to release a flood; so abandon the dispute before it breaks out. / He who loves transgression loves strife; he who builds his gate high invites destruction.
Proverbs 18:6, 19
A fool’s lips bring him strife, and his mouth invites a beating. / An offended brother is harder to win than a fortified city, and disputes are like the bars of a castle.
Proverbs 19:13
A foolish son is his father’s ruin, and a quarrelsome wife is like a constant dripping.
Proverbs 20:3
It is honorable for a man to resolve a dispute, but any fool will quarrel.
Proverbs 21:19
Better to live in the desert than with a contentious and ill-tempered wife.
Proverbs 22:10
Drive out the mocker, and conflict will depart; even quarreling and insults will cease.
Proverbs 23:29, 30
Who has woe? Who has sorrow? Who has contentions? Who has complaints? Who has needless wounds? Who has bloodshot eyes? / Those who linger over wine, who go to taste mixed drinks.
Proverbs 25:8, 24
do not bring hastily to court. Otherwise, what will you do in the end when your neighbor puts you to shame? / Better to live on a corner of the roof than to share a house with a quarrelsome wife.
Proverbs 26:17, 20, 21
Like one who grabs a dog by the ears is a passerby who meddles in a quarrel not his own. / Without wood, a fire goes out; without gossip, a conflict ceases. / Like charcoal for embers and wood for fire, so is a quarrelsome man for kindling strife.
Proverbs 27:15
A constant dripping on a rainy day and a contentious woman are alike—
Proverbs 28:25
A greedy man stirs up strife, but he who trusts in the LORD will prosper.
Proverbs 29:22
An angry man stirs up dissension, and a hot-tempered man abounds in transgression.
Proverbs 30:33
For as the churning of milk yields butter, and the twisting of the nose draws blood, so the stirring of anger brings forth strife.”
Isaiah 41:11, 12
Behold, all who rage against you will be ashamed and disgraced; those who contend with you will be reduced to nothing and will perish. / You will seek them but will not find them. Those who wage war against you will come to nothing.
Isaiah 58:4
You fast with contention and strife to strike viciously with your fist. You cannot fast as you do today and have your voice be heard on high.
Habakkuk 1:3
Why do You make me see iniquity? Why do You tolerate wrongdoing? Destruction and violence are before me. Strife is ongoing, and conflict abounds.
Matthew 5:25, 39–41
Reconcile quickly with your adversary, while you are still on the way to court. Otherwise, he may hand you over to the judge, and the judge may hand you over to the officer, and you may be thrown into prison. / But I tell you not to resist an evil person. If someone slaps you on your right cheek, turn to him the other also; / and if someone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles.
Matthew 10:34–36
Do not assume that I have come to bring peace to the earth; I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. / For I have come to turn ‘a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. / A man’s enemies will be the members of his own household.’
Matthew 12:25
Knowing their thoughts, Jesus said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself will be laid waste, and every city or household divided against itself will not stand.
Matthew 18:15–17
If your brother sins against you, go and confront him privately. If he listens to you, you have won your brother over. / But if he will not listen, take one or two others along, so that ‘every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.’ / If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. And if he refuses to listen even to the church, regard him as you would a pagan or a tax collector.
Mark 3:24, 25
If a kingdom is divided against itself, it cannot stand. / If a house is divided against itself, it cannot stand.
Luke 11:17
Knowing their thoughts, Jesus said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself will be laid waste, and a house divided against a house will fall.
Luke 12:51–53, 58, 59
Do you think that I have come to bring peace to the earth? No, I tell you, but division. / From now on, five in one household will be divided, three against two and two against three. / They will be divided, father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.”
Romans 2:8
But for those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow wickedness, there will be wrath and anger.
Romans 12:18
If it is possible on your part, live at peace with everyone.
Romans 13:13
Let us behave decently, as in the daytime, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and debauchery, not in dissension and jealousy.
Romans 14:1, 19, 21
Accept him whose faith is weak, without passing judgment on his opinions. / So then, let us pursue what leads to peace and to mutual edification. / It is better not to eat meat or drink wine or to do anything to cause your brother to stumble.
Romans 16:17, 18
Now I urge you, brothers, to watch out for those who create divisions and obstacles that are contrary to the teaching you have learned. Turn away from them. / For such people are not serving our Lord Christ, but their own appetites. By smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the naive.
1 Corinthians 1:10–13
I appeal to you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree together, so that there may be no divisions among you and that you may be united in mind and conviction. / My brothers, some from Chloe’s household have informed me that there are quarrels among you. / What I mean is this: Individuals among you are saying, “I follow Paul,” “I follow Apollos,” “I follow Cephas,” or “I follow Christ.”
1 Corinthians 3:1, 3, 4
Brothers, I could not address you as spiritual, but as worldly—as infants in Christ. / for you are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and dissension among you, are you not worldly? Are you not walking in the way of man? / For when one of you says, “I follow Paul,” and another, “I follow Apollos,” are you not mere men?
1 Corinthians 4:6, 7
Brothers, I have applied these things to myself and Apollos for your benefit, so that you may learn from us not to go beyond what is written. Then you will not take pride in one man over another. / For who makes you so superior? What do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as though you did not?
1 Corinthians 6:1–7
If any of you has a grievance against another, how dare he go to law before the unrighteous instead of before the saints! / Do you not know that the saints will judge the world? And if you are to judge the world, are you not competent to judge trivial cases? / Do you not know that we will judge angels? How much more the things of this life!
1 Corinthians 11:16–19
If anyone is inclined to dispute this, we have no other practice, nor do the churches of God. / In the following instructions I have no praise to offer, because your gatherings do more harm than good. / First of all, I hear that when you come together as a church, there are divisions among you, and in part I believe it.
2 Corinthians 12:20
For I am afraid that when I come, I may not find you as I wish, and you may not find me as you wish. I fear that there may be quarreling, jealousy, rage, rivalry, slander, gossip, arrogance, and disorder.
Galatians 5:10, 15, 19–21
I am confident in the Lord that you will take no other view. The one who is troubling you will bear the judgment, whoever he may be. / But if you keep on biting and devouring one another, watch out, or you will be consumed by one another. / The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity, and debauchery;
Philippians 1:15, 16
It is true that some preach Christ out of envy and rivalry, but others out of goodwill. / The latter do so in love, knowing that I am appointed for the defense of the gospel.
Philippians 2:3, 14, 15
Do nothing out of selfish ambition or empty pride, but in humility consider others more important than yourselves. / Do everything without complaining or arguing, / so that you may be blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and perverse generation, in which you shine as lights in the world
1 Timothy 1:5–7
The goal of our instruction is the love that comes from a pure heart, a clear conscience, and a sincere faith. / Some have strayed from these ways and turned aside to empty talk. / They want to be teachers of the law, but they do not understand what they are saying or that which they so confidently assert.
1 Timothy 2:8
Therefore I want the men everywhere to pray, lifting up holy hands, without anger or dissension.
1 Timothy 3:2, 3
An overseer, then, must be above reproach, the husband of but one wife, temperate, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, / not dependent on wine, not violent but gentle, peaceable, and free of the love of money.
1 Timothy 6:3–5, 20, 21
If anyone teaches another doctrine and disagrees with the sound words of our Lord Jesus Christ and with godly teaching, / he is conceited and understands nothing. Instead, he has an unhealthy interest in controversies and semantics, out of which come envy, strife, abusive talk, evil suspicions, / and constant friction between men of depraved mind who are devoid of the truth. These men regard godliness as a means of gain.
2 Timothy 2:14, 23–25
Remind the believers of these things, charging them before God to avoid quarreling over words, which succeeds only in leading the listeners to ruin. / But reject foolish and ignorant speculation, for you know that it breeds quarreling. / He must gently reprove those who oppose him, in the hope that God may grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth.
Titus 3:1–3, 9
Remind the believers to submit to rulers and authorities, to be obedient and ready for every good work, / to malign no one, and to be peaceable and gentle, showing full consideration to everyone. / For at one time we too were foolish, disobedient, misled, and enslaved to all sorts of desires and pleasures—living in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another.
James 3:14–16
But if you harbor bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast in it or deny the truth. / Such wisdom does not come from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. / For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every evil practice.
James 4:1, 2
What causes conflicts and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from the passions at war within you? / You crave what you do not have; you kill and covet, but are unable to obtain it. You quarrel and fight. You do not have, because you do not ask.