Dissension among Brothers

God hates a man who stirs up dissention among brothers, a person who intentionally divides other Christians. The amazing thing is that God places this sin of causing discord among brothers right up there along with murder, lying, and perjuring (see Proverbs 6:16–19).

One of the things that stirs up dissension is gossip. We hear something about someone. They did what? With whom? We are so anxious to tell someone else. What is it with us that we would actually rejoice in a weakness or problem in another Christian’s life? The first thing we should do is pray for that person. And then we should seek to restore him or her, because it could be us next time.

But what do we do? We don’t talk to God about them. We talk to other people about them. You would think by the actions of some people today that the Bible says, “If a brother or a sister is overtaken in a fault, you who are spiritual, go and tell as many people as humanly possible.” Rather, it says, “Brethren, if a man is overtaken in any trespass, you who are spiritual restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness, considering yourself lest you also be tempted” (Galatians 6:1).

Oh, we want to talk about people. We want to gossip about people. We want to cause division. But God hates it. So pray for them instead. Seek to restore them. Take the proper biblical steps. Gossiping and talking about it will never resolve it. God hates this kind of thing.

Instead, let’s seek to gently restore our brothers and sisters in Christ.