One Year With Jesus

Many problems arise from envy. James said, "For where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work" (Jas. 3:16). Envy and strife go hand in hand and open the door to the devil to do anything he desires, in our life. Some people would never give place to the devil through confessing the wrong things, yet through envy, they give the enemy freedom to do his worst. God's kind of love is not envious or jealous because it doesn't seek it's own, but seeks the welfare of others. Envy is an indication of self-centeredness.

The Apostle Paul had some opponents who were just like many people who sow strife today. They are against everything and critical of the way those in authority handle things. They make big statements about what they would do if they were in authority, but it's all talk. They haven't proven themselves successful in managing even the smallest things, yet they want to be put in charge of big things, just based on their talk. This is not the system of advancement that Jesus advocates (Mt. 25:21; Lk. 16:11-12; 19:17).

The Lord has united every born-again Christian by baptizing us all into the body of Christ. This is already a reality. Like it or not, want it or not, every Christian is completely one in spirit with every other Christian.

Failure to function as one, in our relationships with other believers means someone is not flowing in the Spirit. Our flesh is the part of us that gets in strife with other believers. As we operate in the Spirit more and more, we will come more and more into unity with our brothers and sisters in Christ.