A House Divided

“Jesus knew their thoughts and said to them: “Any kingdom divided against itself will be ruined, and a house divided against itself will fall.” (Luke 11:17 NIV)

Do you constantly argue with your spouse? Does it ever solve any problems? Are you always insisting people see things your way? How often does that approach actually work for you?

When we cause strife, in our home, in our workplace, in our church – we accomplish nothing but destruction.  Fighting, arguing, complaining – none of these virtues allow for any good to come of their production. Only destruction can come from the tearing down of any structure.

A marriage cannot survive if the couple cannot stop fighting. A company cannot thrive if its employees will not work as a team. A nation cannot move forward if it’s too busy arguing over every single item that comes before the government.  Instead, if we showed grace, if we offered compassion, on both ends, our problems could be conquered, our marriages could be saved.

It’s up to each one of us to choose grace instead.  It’s up to us to decide that what we have is important enough to fight for. It’s our decision to show our hand of grace instead of our hand of poison, regardless of what the other party shows. Choose grace. Jesus did, we should too.

O LORD it is so hard to choose grace when I’m so angry and hurt and broken. But then I remember that Jesus chose grace unto the cross. He chose grace while people beat him and spit on him and ultimately killed him. Certainly I can show grace too.