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There are many things that will affect your heart and keep it from being pure. Some of those include unforgiveness, bitterness, anger, sins of the flesh, and gossiping. However, the one I want to talk about today is strife. Proverbs 17:14 says, ‘The beginning of strife is like releasing water.’ What does that mean? It means strife is like opening the flood gates. It opens the flood gates to the enemy to come in and wreak havoc and ensure that you don’t keep a clean heart – in doing so, he has ensured that you will not walk in the blessing of God. II Corinthians, Chapter 2 teaches us that strife tries to come so that the enemy can take advantage of us. It’s an open door to the enemy.
Look at James 3:16, ‘where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work.’ Every evil work. You see, this is one of the enemy’s strategies; we think that if we get in strife, it is just one little thing – not so – it invites in confusion and every evil work. Think of that when you have a choice to make between strife and peace. Walk away if you must, but always choose peace. It makes no difference who is right and who is wrong – choose peace.
