Keeping away from strife
is an honor for a man,
but any fool will quarrel.

Proverbs 20:3

I am not a fan of boxing or cage bouts or the fake wrestling. I suppose I might be more tolerant of these events if they were called what they really are: combats or battles or brawls. I guess some of them are called those things. But they cannot be classified as a sport and certainly not entertainment, at least not for me. But, I know these have millions of fans, both men and women, so no discussion, at least for now. I just bring it up here because I think combat in a roped off ring or in a cage is a vivid picture of our key verse for today.

I will stay on our key verse topic: avoiding strife and quarrels. Both these words carry strong meaning and our verse, along with many others, give godly instruction on what to do when strife and quarrels find their way inside our circle of influence.

The Hebrew word for quarrel is gala [H1566] and means to be obstinate, to meddle, to expose, to lay bare, to break out in contention. This particular word is only used a few times in the Old Testament, but here is a sister verse.

Proverbs 17:14

Starting a quarrel is like opening a floodgate, so stop before a dispute breaks out. [NLT]

The Hebrew word for strife is rib [H7379] and means contention, controversy, dispute. Here are other verses that speak to our topic. 

Proverbs 15:18

A hot-tempered man stirs up strife, but the slow to anger calms a dispute.

Proverbs 26:17

Like one who takes a dog by the ears is he who passess by and meddles with strife no belonging to him.

As always, taking God’s Word in its context is so important and yet, can be challenging when working with Proverbs because they are…proverbs. They are short and to the point which is why they are so easy to remember and keep biblical truth in our minds. However, it also means that most often in a chapter of Proverbs the topics are not interwoven. That is why I try to connect proverbs with each other within all of Proverbs and with the rest of God’s Word. Not perfect at doing this, but it is, actually, a stimulating and fruitful enterprise. 

All that to say we can see clearly in this list of Proverbs God’s meaning when it comes to strife and quarrels. Don’t meddle in other people’s disputes and keep away from strife filled situations as much as possible. Now, that doesn’t mean we play the innocent by-stander all the time and just pull out our phones and video everything and everyone. If the situation becomes serious get help or get out of the way, whichever is most helpful. If you are asked to intervene; act, but with great wisdom!

God wants us to use a lot of…discernment and don’t go looking for strife and disputes. We all know people that think it is their Christian calling to stick their noses into everyone else’s business and interfere. That is not what peacemakers do (a topic for another day) and it is not helpful at all. In fact, this meddling often will make matters worse, spreads gossip and slander and can even divide families and churches. 

Let’s keep quarrels and strife out of our life box & wisdom and discernment in our life box!