But if ye have bitter envying and strife in your hearts, glory not, and lie not against the truth.
To hold bitter envy and strife in the heart gives no ground for boasting, and to claim spiritual wisdom or mastery of truth while cherishing them is to lie against the truth itself. Such wisdom does not come down from above but is earthly and devilish, bringing confusion and every evil work, whereas the wisdom from above is pure, peaceable, gentle, merciful and fruitful, and is shown in meekness of conduct. Truth believed must soften and sanctify the character, for professing it while displaying suspicion, impatience, harshness and an unforgiving spirit denies Christ, while love, patience and kindness accord with its pure and unselfish work. Therefore Christ's servants are to put away self-seeking, supremacy, criticism and division, and to be humble, teachable and united, seeing eye to eye and living as peacemakers. Bitter envy and strife must not be excused as frankness, courage or zeal for truth, but confessed and put away at once, for unless every root of bitterness is eradicated it will defile many and shut the soul from heaven.
Plain Meaning of Warning
Harboring bitter envy and strife in the heart gives no ground for boasting, and to boast while cherishing them is to lie against the truth. Such envy and strife are incompatible with truth, so those who hold them must not boast or claim to possess truth, because that conduct dishonors the truth. Those who cherish bitter envying and strife must not glory or claim advanced spiritual knowledge and wisdom, for making that claim while holding those attitudes is false and denies the truth. That warning holds especially when people exalt themselves and seek wisdom from those who do not love God, for such wisdom is not from above but from below.
When bitter envying and strife are in the heart there must be no glorying, even though a person may suppose he has gained mastery in argument. Being keen in argument in that spirit is lying against the truth, and a controversial spirit displeases God. Claiming to uphold truth while acting against it through controversy and rough character is lying against the truth, since truth should sanctify the life with visible improvement in speech, conduct, home life, and business dealings. Those who harbor bitter envy and strife must not boast of harsh efforts to correct evil or call their contentiousness frankness, courage, or Christian boldness. A stern, censorious spirit may pretend to be frank and courageous, but it lies against the Spirit of truth when driven by envy and strife rather than Christlike love and meekness, and such a spirit is not from God but from Satan, even of the devil. Mere intellectual agreement with truth is not enough, for unless the truth as it is in Jesus is brought into the life and woven into the character, words, manner, and appearance reveal the lack, and truth is then presented only in one's own harsh, self-confident way, like tying truth onto a tree bearing thorn-berries, with fruits contradicting it.
Lying against the truth means professing belief in it while spirit, words, and conduct display Satan's traits and deny Christ. Evil suspicion, impatience, and an unforgiving spirit with unwillingness to forgive contradict truth, whereas love, patience, and long forbearance accord with truth, whose work is pure and kind and free from selfishness. Bitter envying and strife with glorying and lying against the truth come from an untamed tongue, the unruly member, and must be overcome by educating oneself in carefulness of words and acts. Restraining and gauging the course of action is not hypocrisy, while to act unfettered under claim of privilege is self-deception. The verse must be carefully considered, laid to heart, and made the rule for forming character, with the Word of God carefully studied and carried into daily life, calling for control of the tongue and careful use of words and actions. Keeping the ten precepts of Jehovah is impossible without regarding what it teaches, and obeying it is necessary to be without fault before the throne of God.
Words and character lie against the truth when self-reliance and confidence in finite wisdom lead to reckless conduct that damages influence and confuses what is sacred with what is common. Dependence on God, gained through living by His word and constant prayer, gives discernment and strength to do right and keeps words and character true.
Two Kinds of Wisdom
The wisdom that harbors bitter envying and strife in the heart does not descend from above, but is earthly, sensual, and devilish. Where envying and strife are, there is confusion and every evil work. To glory while cherishing them is to lie against the truth, for such boasting gives no ground and dishonors the truth it claims. This false wisdom appears in boasting of winning arguments and claiming to uphold truth while acting against it, in criticism and conflict that must give way to humility and peace, and in a controversial spirit that displeases God.
In contrast, the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle and easy to be entreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy. Its works are meek, and the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by peacemakers. It is shown in meekness of wisdom and good conduct, in doing nothing through strife or vainglory, in purifying the soul by obeying truth unto unfeigned love, and in speaking words that do not wound like arrows but sow peace. It belongs to men called to save souls whose selfish interests are swallowed up in concern for souls, and to the Christian living in a world of sin and variance as a peacemaker with active humility, a softened spirit, self made secondary, and singleness of eye to God's glory in oneness of mind and judgment under love to God and man.
True wisdom is proved out of good conduct with meekness of wisdom. As a fountain cannot yield both salt water and fresh, a life cannot bear both the bitter fruits of contention and the good fruits of heaven. Wisdom that leads to alienation, division, strife, and contention is not from above. Strife, envy, and jealousy as ruling elements, with continual contradiction and variance, are the opposite spirit working in the children of Satan and the unholy fruit of a heart not in harmony with Christ and not truly connected with God. Those joined to Christ as a branch abiding in Him bear instead meekness, peace, mercy, and good fruits, with harmony, love, and unity, for benevolence, kindness, mercy, and love originate from infinite wisdom and the Christian's characteristic is the meekness of Christ.
Unity Humility and Peace
Bitter envy and conflict in the heart leave no room for boasting, for to boast while cherishing them is to lie against the truth, and this calls Christ's servants to love and unity instead of self-sufficiency and independence. Selfishness and strife have no place among them, but humility, teachableness, and willingness to learn from one another and from men of experience do. No one is to regard himself as authority in all things, since all are bound together in the great web of humanity and no one man is a whole, so that it is unsafe to follow one man's mind and judgment. Great and noble minds are teachable, while selfish and narrow minds refuse to be taught.
Each person is to think and act as a free moral agent, being a help to others without becoming the shadow of any man, gathering light from God to reflect to others. This means laying every mind met under tribute to absorb common sense from the experience and education of others, casting aside what has no value, and with humble heart and sanctified ears and perception distinguishing between the true and the false. As the natural outgrowth of the Christian religion, those proclaiming the last solemn message to a dying world will put away envying and strife. Though possessing different temperaments and dispositions, they will see eye to eye in all matters of religious belief, speak the same things, have no divisions, and be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment, being one in Christ as Christ is one with the Father, laying aside insistence that their own course, words, and reasoning are right without modification.
The Christian is to live in a world of sin and strife and variance as a peacemaker, with active humility and true goodness, a softened and subdued spirit, making self secondary and working with an eye single to the glory of God. Such a life is of one mind and one judgment under the law of love to God and to man, rather than seeking supremacy or manifesting a dictatorial spirit. Bitter envying and strife include carrying personal ideas against the judgment of the brethren, putting self-interest first, trying to rule and seeking supremacy, and insisting on one's own ideas, ways, and will instead of hearty cooperation. They also include selfish decisions as a root of bitterness that attempt to control or take the benefit of another's God-given work, exalting self and seeking wisdom from those who do not love God, so the urge for supremacy requires the self-seeking spirit to be controlled.
Envy and jealousy, bitterness and dissension, with pride, vanity, worldly-mindedness, avarice, unkindness, and a critical, fault-finding, censorious spirit, are obedience to Satan and not to Christ, and communion with an evil spirit. Those who manifest these traits show earthly, sensual, devilish wisdom rather than wisdom from above, prove they do not have true wisdom, and mark themselves as strangers to Christ, unfit for sacred work even if they have apparently accomplished some good. By contrast, firm principle, fearless duty, and zeal joined with humility, gentleness, patience, readiness to forgive, and love for souls show communion with Jesus. Those who harbor envy and strife think they love the truth and think their course is wise, but their own ideas are dearer to them than the advancement of the work, they are greatly deceived and enshrouded in darkness, a hindrance and not a help, and must have transformation of character to be useful and receive the overcomer's reward.
Truth Lived in Character
Truth enthroned in the heart softens and subdues the soul, sanctifies the character, and elevates, ennobles, and purifies it from every species and every kind of selfishness. It gives faith that works by love. By beholding the self-denial, self-sacrifice, meekness, purity, and holiness of the life of Christ, the spirit and character are changed to become Christlike and one with Christ in spirit and character as Christ was one with the Father. Those who receive it bear the test and pruning of God to be found worthy to compose members of God's own family above. Harboring bitter jealousy and selfish conflict in the heart while boasting or defending it as wisdom is lying against the truth, and wisdom that leads to alienation, division, strife, and contention is not from above.
Truth when believed and practiced refines and ennobles rather than making people rough, selfish, or coarse. It sanctifies the life and brings visible improvement in speech, conduct, home life, and business dealings. To claim to believe it while engaging in controversy and displaying rough character instead of showing its transforming power is to lie against the truth, for bitter envy and strife in the heart are incompatible with truth and give no ground for boasting or claiming to possess it.
Mere profession of belief and intellectual agreement with truth is not enough. Unless the truth as it is in Jesus is brought into the life and woven into the character, words, manner, and appearance reveal the lack. Then the truth can be presented only in one's own way and with one's own harsh, self-confident manner, like tying truth onto a tree that bears thorn-berries, with fruits contradicting it. To cherish envy and strife while calling contentiousness Christian boldness is not from God but from Satan.
Losing sight of Jesus' purity and perfection leads to self-importance, fault-finding, complaining, and combativeness, even in worship. Such pride and contentious conduct lie against the truth, misrepresent Christ's religion and His meekness and lowliness, and show true character and lack of Christian meekness and humility. These traits do little good and turn people away from Christ and from the truth.
Cherished bitterness and selfish opposition contradict claimed faith, misrepresent Christ, and harm others while claiming faith. A cold, critical, sarcastic spirit is opposed to Christ's spirit and love and must be put away and replaced with the spirit of Jesus. Bitter envy and contention in the heart must not be joined with claims to wisdom or pride, for such traits belong to the spirit of the world, have no place among believers, and bring shame on and scandalize the truth. Instead wisdom is shown through meek conduct, kind words, and brotherly love, courtesy, kindness, and meekness, avoiding bitter words and unkind actions. Faith that works through love and purifies the soul is shown by kindness and fairness, not by unkind decisions, injured souls, or bitterness toward people Christ purchased.
To perfect character after Heaven's standard, those opening hearts and homes to invite Jesus to abide must keep the moral atmosphere unclouded by strife, bitterness, contention, envy, wrath, malice, or even an unkind word. Jesus will not abide in a home where contention, envy, and bitterness are, and to boast of Christian character while harboring bitter envying and strife is glorying and lying against the truth, a hollow-hearted hypocrisy and not genuine Christian courtesy. Kindness and amiability are essential qualities in the child of God, yet courtesy cannot take the place of a holy life, nor is the life perfect without this courtesy.
Application to Church Life
The warning falls with special weight on those entrusted with God's work, including Bible teachers and missionaries, who need wisdom from above and must represent God's character in word and deed. They must guard the heart against differences and strife and practice the truth they represent, for to harbor bitter envy and strife while boasting is incompatible with truth and contradicts what is professed. True wisdom is shown out of good conduct with meekness of wisdom, and men called to save souls are free from selfish interests swallowed up in deep concern for souls Christ died to save. Strife and contention are of the devil and have no place in workers responsible for representing the principles of their message, who are to be righteous in word and deed.
Those handling sacred business must put away strife, humble themselves, purify their hearts, and bring trials and perplexities to God rather than turning from the infinite Counsellor to finite men. The Lord's servants must put aside injured feelings, avoid strife and vainglory, and stop criticism and harsh speech, doing God's will rather than their own. Self must be hid in Jesus and the heart opened to light and God's love so Jesus is glorified, with a decided change from gossip, censure, criticism and strife of tongues to sympathy that strengthens weak hands and confirms feeble knees. Such a spirit of earthly, sensual, devilish wisdom dishonors God, weakens His professed children, and brought dearth and feebleness at St. Helena and at Crystal Springs, requiring constant seeking for truth and dying to the world with no cowardice or compromise.
At Minneapolis this false wisdom from beneath appeared as doubts, cavilings, playing upon words, turning from reproof, sarcasm, evil feelings, bearing false witness, making light of God's message and messengers, ridiculing, misrepresenting, and quibbling. It opposed the light God sent to revive His people and magnify Christ, turning aside from close reproofs as idle fables. Such a spirit is an offense to God and must have no place among His people when souls are starving for food.
Those who cherish envy and strife show self-esteem, criticism of others' ideas and work, combat and opposition to brethren, holding back from hearty cooperation, insistence on own ideas, ways and will, unbelief, Pharisaism, darkness, and lack of teachable spirit. Yet they think they love truth and the cause of God and think their course is wise, while their own ideas are dearer than advancing the work, they are greatly deceived and enshrouded in darkness, a hindrance and not a help. They manifest traits unfit for sacred work that should not be tolerated in ministry even with apparent good, because God calls for workers who are true, faithful, pure and holy, and they need transformation of character to be useful and receive the overcomer's reward. Envyings and jealousies, bitterness and dissension, with pride, vanity, worldly-mindedness, avarice, unkindness and a critical, fault-finding, censorious spirit, are obedience to Satan and not to Christ and communion with an evil spirit, while firm principle, fearless duty and zeal joined with humility, gentleness, patience, readiness to forgive and love for souls show communion with Jesus.
Accusing the brethren, questioning and finding fault with everything and every man's teaching, and counting no one perfect gives greatest evidence of one's own imperfection and requires severe self-criticism instead of criticism of others. Believers should examine themselves rather than watch, accuse, or speak evil of others, for small offenses are magnified into great grievances when pride and unrestrained disposition rule, but Christ's grace overcomes them when brought to Him.
Cherishing grievances, suspicion, evil-speaking, and watching for evil plants bitter fibrous roots that poison faith and defile many, sets thoughts and tongue on fire over trifles, distorts brethren's acts in perverted light, and makes men allies of Satan as accuser in alienating brother from brother. It proves the heart draws from selfish nature rather than the True Vine, lacking charity, hindering God's work, placing His servants in worst light, and bringing the doer into judgment. Envy, evil suspicions, and conflict may lie quiet then break out and dishonor God, and through repeated indulgence become a ruinous habit. When the heart is stirred the intellect becomes unbalanced so slight differences unsettle faith, cause apostasy, break unity, sow discord, refuse blessings and knowledge of God, grieve the Spirit, disappoint Jesus, and make one a channel of darkness, while careless words of doubt and accusation seed unbelief and apostasy and human wisdom leads from holiness.
Bitter envy and strife must not be gloried in, excused, or defended as truth, but confessed and put away, for harsh hasty words and vindication of a wrong course defile character. This requires humbling before God, going directly to the one thought to have erred or to hold a grudge, telling the injury, removing disunion, healing wounds at once, clearing the King's highway, respecting the Spirit's conviction, and following peace and holiness. Fostering jealousy and evil surmising grieves the Spirit and reveals Satan's characteristic, giving him room to spoil influence, so every worker must stand on eternal truth and harbor no desire from him in order to reach the high standard of the Word.
Every church member must learn this lesson through close self-examination in light of the Word to do the essential work, for bitterness and strife among believers bring trouble and harm God's cause. To boast while cherishing them is to lie against the truth, for such wisdom does not descend from above but is earthly, sensual, devilish, bringing confusion and every evil work.
The verse requires doing nothing through strife or vainglory, showing wisdom by meek conduct, purifying the soul by obeying truth unto unfeigned love, and speaking words that do not wound like arrows but sow righteousness in peace. Criticism and conflict must give way to humility, peace, and strengthening others, and truth must be defended in its Author's spirit rather than through excited unsanctified criticism or rash decisions. It calls for a changed heart with humble, fair, compassionate, courteous conduct keeping God's law and a life free from envy and self-seeking in keeping with the selfless love of 1 Corinthians 13.
True peace cannot be secured by hiding or setting aside present truth but is joined to Christ's cross and Christ's Spirit. This envy and strife is a root of bitterness breaking the unity God desires, killing spirituality through selfishness and self-sufficiency and leading to harsh treatment of those Christ purchased, and unless every fiber is eradicated many will be defiled. Unless those cherishing it are converted they can never see the kingdom of heaven, in contrast to wisdom from above bringing brotherly love, burden-bearing, and abounding love.
To hold bitter envy and strife in the heart gives no ground for boasting, and to claim spiritual wisdom or mastery of truth while cherishing them is to lie against the truth itself. Such wisdom does not come down from above but is earthly and devilish, bringing confusion and every evil work, whereas the wisdom from above is pure, peaceable, gentle, merciful and fruitful, and is shown in meekness of conduct. Truth believed must soften and sanctify the character, for professing it while displaying suspicion, impatience, harshness and an unforgiving spirit denies Christ, while love, patience and kindness accord with its pure and unselfish work. Therefore Christ's servants are to put away self-seeking, supremacy, criticism and division, and to be humble, teachable and united, seeing eye to eye and living as peacemakers. Bitter envy and strife must not be excused as frankness, courage or zeal for truth, but confessed and put away at once, for unless every root of bitterness is eradicated it will defile many and shut the soul from heaven.
Plain Meaning of Warning
Harboring bitter envy and strife in the heart gives no ground for boasting, and to boast while cherishing them is to lie against the truth. Such envy and strife are incompatible with truth, so those who hold them must not boast or claim to possess truth, because that conduct dishonors the truth. Those who cherish bitter envying and strife must not glory or claim advanced spiritual knowledge and wisdom, for making that claim while holding those attitudes is false and denies the truth. That warning holds especially when people exalt themselves and seek wisdom from those who do not love God, for such wisdom is not from above but from below.
When bitter envying and strife are in the heart there must be no glorying, even though a person may suppose he has gained mastery in argument. Being keen in argument in that spirit is lying against the truth, and a controversial spirit displeases God. Claiming to uphold truth while acting against it through controversy and rough character is lying against the truth, since truth should sanctify the life with visible improvement in speech, conduct, home life, and business dealings. Those who harbor bitter envy and strife must not boast of harsh efforts to correct evil or call their contentiousness frankness, courage, or Christian boldness. A stern, censorious spirit may pretend to be frank and courageous, but it lies against the Spirit of truth when driven by envy and strife rather than Christlike love and meekness, and such a spirit is not from God but from Satan, even of the devil. Mere intellectual agreement with truth is not enough, for unless the truth as it is in Jesus is brought into the life and woven into the character, words, manner, and appearance reveal the lack, and truth is then presented only in one's own harsh, self-confident way, like tying truth onto a tree bearing thorn-berries, with fruits contradicting it.
Lying against the truth means professing belief in it while spirit, words, and conduct display Satan's traits and deny Christ. Evil suspicion, impatience, and an unforgiving spirit with unwillingness to forgive contradict truth, whereas love, patience, and long forbearance accord with truth, whose work is pure and kind and free from selfishness. Bitter envying and strife with glorying and lying against the truth come from an untamed tongue, the unruly member, and must be overcome by educating oneself in carefulness of words and acts. Restraining and gauging the course of action is not hypocrisy, while to act unfettered under claim of privilege is self-deception. The verse must be carefully considered, laid to heart, and made the rule for forming character, with the Word of God carefully studied and carried into daily life, calling for control of the tongue and careful use of words and actions. Keeping the ten precepts of Jehovah is impossible without regarding what it teaches, and obeying it is necessary to be without fault before the throne of God.
Words and character lie against the truth when self-reliance and confidence in finite wisdom lead to reckless conduct that damages influence and confuses what is sacred with what is common. Dependence on God, gained through living by His word and constant prayer, gives discernment and strength to do right and keeps words and character true.
Two Kinds of Wisdom
The wisdom that harbors bitter envying and strife in the heart does not descend from above, but is earthly, sensual, and devilish. Where envying and strife are, there is confusion and every evil work. To glory while cherishing them is to lie against the truth, for such boasting gives no ground and dishonors the truth it claims. This false wisdom appears in boasting of winning arguments and claiming to uphold truth while acting against it, in criticism and conflict that must give way to humility and peace, and in a controversial spirit that displeases God.
In contrast, the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle and easy to be entreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy. Its works are meek, and the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by peacemakers. It is shown in meekness of wisdom and good conduct, in doing nothing through strife or vainglory, in purifying the soul by obeying truth unto unfeigned love, and in speaking words that do not wound like arrows but sow peace. It belongs to men called to save souls whose selfish interests are swallowed up in concern for souls, and to the Christian living in a world of sin and variance as a peacemaker with active humility, a softened spirit, self made secondary, and singleness of eye to God's glory in oneness of mind and judgment under love to God and man.
True wisdom is proved out of good conduct with meekness of wisdom. As a fountain cannot yield both salt water and fresh, a life cannot bear both the bitter fruits of contention and the good fruits of heaven. Wisdom that leads to alienation, division, strife, and contention is not from above. Strife, envy, and jealousy as ruling elements, with continual contradiction and variance, are the opposite spirit working in the children of Satan and the unholy fruit of a heart not in harmony with Christ and not truly connected with God. Those joined to Christ as a branch abiding in Him bear instead meekness, peace, mercy, and good fruits, with harmony, love, and unity, for benevolence, kindness, mercy, and love originate from infinite wisdom and the Christian's characteristic is the meekness of Christ.
Unity Humility and Peace
Bitter envy and conflict in the heart leave no room for boasting, for to boast while cherishing them is to lie against the truth, and this calls Christ's servants to love and unity instead of self-sufficiency and independence. Selfishness and strife have no place among them, but humility, teachableness, and willingness to learn from one another and from men of experience do. No one is to regard himself as authority in all things, since all are bound together in the great web of humanity and no one man is a whole, so that it is unsafe to follow one man's mind and judgment. Great and noble minds are teachable, while selfish and narrow minds refuse to be taught.
Each person is to think and act as a free moral agent, being a help to others without becoming the shadow of any man, gathering light from God to reflect to others. This means laying every mind met under tribute to absorb common sense from the experience and education of others, casting aside what has no value, and with humble heart and sanctified ears and perception distinguishing between the true and the false. As the natural outgrowth of the Christian religion, those proclaiming the last solemn message to a dying world will put away envying and strife. Though possessing different temperaments and dispositions, they will see eye to eye in all matters of religious belief, speak the same things, have no divisions, and be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment, being one in Christ as Christ is one with the Father, laying aside insistence that their own course, words, and reasoning are right without modification.
The Christian is to live in a world of sin and strife and variance as a peacemaker, with active humility and true goodness, a softened and subdued spirit, making self secondary and working with an eye single to the glory of God. Such a life is of one mind and one judgment under the law of love to God and to man, rather than seeking supremacy or manifesting a dictatorial spirit. Bitter envying and strife include carrying personal ideas against the judgment of the brethren, putting self-interest first, trying to rule and seeking supremacy, and insisting on one's own ideas, ways, and will instead of hearty cooperation. They also include selfish decisions as a root of bitterness that attempt to control or take the benefit of another's God-given work, exalting self and seeking wisdom from those who do not love God, so the urge for supremacy requires the self-seeking spirit to be controlled.
Envy and jealousy, bitterness and dissension, with pride, vanity, worldly-mindedness, avarice, unkindness, and a critical, fault-finding, censorious spirit, are obedience to Satan and not to Christ, and communion with an evil spirit. Those who manifest these traits show earthly, sensual, devilish wisdom rather than wisdom from above, prove they do not have true wisdom, and mark themselves as strangers to Christ, unfit for sacred work even if they have apparently accomplished some good. By contrast, firm principle, fearless duty, and zeal joined with humility, gentleness, patience, readiness to forgive, and love for souls show communion with Jesus. Those who harbor envy and strife think they love the truth and think their course is wise, but their own ideas are dearer to them than the advancement of the work, they are greatly deceived and enshrouded in darkness, a hindrance and not a help, and must have transformation of character to be useful and receive the overcomer's reward.
Truth Lived in Character
Truth enthroned in the heart softens and subdues the soul, sanctifies the character, and elevates, ennobles, and purifies it from every species and every kind of selfishness. It gives faith that works by love. By beholding the self-denial, self-sacrifice, meekness, purity, and holiness of the life of Christ, the spirit and character are changed to become Christlike and one with Christ in spirit and character as Christ was one with the Father. Those who receive it bear the test and pruning of God to be found worthy to compose members of God's own family above. Harboring bitter jealousy and selfish conflict in the heart while boasting or defending it as wisdom is lying against the truth, and wisdom that leads to alienation, division, strife, and contention is not from above.
Truth when believed and practiced refines and ennobles rather than making people rough, selfish, or coarse. It sanctifies the life and brings visible improvement in speech, conduct, home life, and business dealings. To claim to believe it while engaging in controversy and displaying rough character instead of showing its transforming power is to lie against the truth, for bitter envy and strife in the heart are incompatible with truth and give no ground for boasting or claiming to possess it.
Mere profession of belief and intellectual agreement with truth is not enough. Unless the truth as it is in Jesus is brought into the life and woven into the character, words, manner, and appearance reveal the lack. Then the truth can be presented only in one's own way and with one's own harsh, self-confident manner, like tying truth onto a tree that bears thorn-berries, with fruits contradicting it. To cherish envy and strife while calling contentiousness Christian boldness is not from God but from Satan.
Losing sight of Jesus' purity and perfection leads to self-importance, fault-finding, complaining, and combativeness, even in worship. Such pride and contentious conduct lie against the truth, misrepresent Christ's religion and His meekness and lowliness, and show true character and lack of Christian meekness and humility. These traits do little good and turn people away from Christ and from the truth.
Cherished bitterness and selfish opposition contradict claimed faith, misrepresent Christ, and harm others while claiming faith. A cold, critical, sarcastic spirit is opposed to Christ's spirit and love and must be put away and replaced with the spirit of Jesus. Bitter envy and contention in the heart must not be joined with claims to wisdom or pride, for such traits belong to the spirit of the world, have no place among believers, and bring shame on and scandalize the truth. Instead wisdom is shown through meek conduct, kind words, and brotherly love, courtesy, kindness, and meekness, avoiding bitter words and unkind actions. Faith that works through love and purifies the soul is shown by kindness and fairness, not by unkind decisions, injured souls, or bitterness toward people Christ purchased.
To perfect character after Heaven's standard, those opening hearts and homes to invite Jesus to abide must keep the moral atmosphere unclouded by strife, bitterness, contention, envy, wrath, malice, or even an unkind word. Jesus will not abide in a home where contention, envy, and bitterness are, and to boast of Christian character while harboring bitter envying and strife is glorying and lying against the truth, a hollow-hearted hypocrisy and not genuine Christian courtesy. Kindness and amiability are essential qualities in the child of God, yet courtesy cannot take the place of a holy life, nor is the life perfect without this courtesy.
Application to Church Life
The warning falls with special weight on those entrusted with God's work, including Bible teachers and missionaries, who need wisdom from above and must represent God's character in word and deed. They must guard the heart against differences and strife and practice the truth they represent, for to harbor bitter envy and strife while boasting is incompatible with truth and contradicts what is professed. True wisdom is shown out of good conduct with meekness of wisdom, and men called to save souls are free from selfish interests swallowed up in deep concern for souls Christ died to save. Strife and contention are of the devil and have no place in workers responsible for representing the principles of their message, who are to be righteous in word and deed.
Those handling sacred business must put away strife, humble themselves, purify their hearts, and bring trials and perplexities to God rather than turning from the infinite Counsellor to finite men. The Lord's servants must put aside injured feelings, avoid strife and vainglory, and stop criticism and harsh speech, doing God's will rather than their own. Self must be hid in Jesus and the heart opened to light and God's love so Jesus is glorified, with a decided change from gossip, censure, criticism and strife of tongues to sympathy that strengthens weak hands and confirms feeble knees. Such a spirit of earthly, sensual, devilish wisdom dishonors God, weakens His professed children, and brought dearth and feebleness at St. Helena and at Crystal Springs, requiring constant seeking for truth and dying to the world with no cowardice or compromise.
At Minneapolis this false wisdom from beneath appeared as doubts, cavilings, playing upon words, turning from reproof, sarcasm, evil feelings, bearing false witness, making light of God's message and messengers, ridiculing, misrepresenting, and quibbling. It opposed the light God sent to revive His people and magnify Christ, turning aside from close reproofs as idle fables. Such a spirit is an offense to God and must have no place among His people when souls are starving for food.
Those who cherish envy and strife show self-esteem, criticism of others' ideas and work, combat and opposition to brethren, holding back from hearty cooperation, insistence on own ideas, ways and will, unbelief, Pharisaism, darkness, and lack of teachable spirit. Yet they think they love truth and the cause of God and think their course is wise, while their own ideas are dearer than advancing the work, they are greatly deceived and enshrouded in darkness, a hindrance and not a help. They manifest traits unfit for sacred work that should not be tolerated in ministry even with apparent good, because God calls for workers who are true, faithful, pure and holy, and they need transformation of character to be useful and receive the overcomer's reward. Envyings and jealousies, bitterness and dissension, with pride, vanity, worldly-mindedness, avarice, unkindness and a critical, fault-finding, censorious spirit, are obedience to Satan and not to Christ and communion with an evil spirit, while firm principle, fearless duty and zeal joined with humility, gentleness, patience, readiness to forgive and love for souls show communion with Jesus.
Accusing the brethren, questioning and finding fault with everything and every man's teaching, and counting no one perfect gives greatest evidence of one's own imperfection and requires severe self-criticism instead of criticism of others. Believers should examine themselves rather than watch, accuse, or speak evil of others, for small offenses are magnified into great grievances when pride and unrestrained disposition rule, but Christ's grace overcomes them when brought to Him.
Cherishing grievances, suspicion, evil-speaking, and watching for evil plants bitter fibrous roots that poison faith and defile many, sets thoughts and tongue on fire over trifles, distorts brethren's acts in perverted light, and makes men allies of Satan as accuser in alienating brother from brother. It proves the heart draws from selfish nature rather than the True Vine, lacking charity, hindering God's work, placing His servants in worst light, and bringing the doer into judgment. Envy, evil suspicions, and conflict may lie quiet then break out and dishonor God, and through repeated indulgence become a ruinous habit. When the heart is stirred the intellect becomes unbalanced so slight differences unsettle faith, cause apostasy, break unity, sow discord, refuse blessings and knowledge of God, grieve the Spirit, disappoint Jesus, and make one a channel of darkness, while careless words of doubt and accusation seed unbelief and apostasy and human wisdom leads from holiness.
Bitter envy and strife must not be gloried in, excused, or defended as truth, but confessed and put away, for harsh hasty words and vindication of a wrong course defile character. This requires humbling before God, going directly to the one thought to have erred or to hold a grudge, telling the injury, removing disunion, healing wounds at once, clearing the King's highway, respecting the Spirit's conviction, and following peace and holiness. Fostering jealousy and evil surmising grieves the Spirit and reveals Satan's characteristic, giving him room to spoil influence, so every worker must stand on eternal truth and harbor no desire from him in order to reach the high standard of the Word.
Every church member must learn this lesson through close self-examination in light of the Word to do the essential work, for bitterness and strife among believers bring trouble and harm God's cause. To boast while cherishing them is to lie against the truth, for such wisdom does not descend from above but is earthly, sensual, devilish, bringing confusion and every evil work.
The verse requires doing nothing through strife or vainglory, showing wisdom by meek conduct, purifying the soul by obeying truth unto unfeigned love, and speaking words that do not wound like arrows but sow righteousness in peace. Criticism and conflict must give way to humility, peace, and strengthening others, and truth must be defended in its Author's spirit rather than through excited unsanctified criticism or rash decisions. It calls for a changed heart with humble, fair, compassionate, courteous conduct keeping God's law and a life free from envy and self-seeking in keeping with the selfless love of 1 Corinthians 13.
True peace cannot be secured by hiding or setting aside present truth but is joined to Christ's cross and Christ's Spirit. This envy and strife is a root of bitterness breaking the unity God desires, killing spirituality through selfishness and self-sufficiency and leading to harsh treatment of those Christ purchased, and unless every fiber is eradicated many will be defiled. Unless those cherishing it are converted they can never see the kingdom of heaven, in contrast to wisdom from above bringing brotherly love, burden-bearing, and abounding love.