Volume 46   Number 12                                                          August 2004

As I was listening to a sermon and thinking about what I have read in the Bible, a question came to mind "Did the LORD discourage competing?" So I thought I would look into this and see if this was so.

First I checked on how many times the word "compete" appears in the Bible. I was surprised that it only appears one time in the American Standard Version in Jeremiah 12:5: "If you have run with the foot men, and they wore you out, then how can you compete with horses? And if you feel secure in the land of peace, then how will you do in the swelling of the Jordan?"

There are other words with similar meanings, such as STRUGGLE, CONTEND, ENDEAVOR, FIGHT, LABOR FERVENTLY, AND STRIVE. To me, these words describe the different styles or methods of competing.

Do you remember how you felt when you won a contest? Do you remember how you showed your elation? Did you stop to think about the loser? You added insult to injury by your actions, so the loser vowed to win the next time, thus studying ways to win the next time.

You lose the next time, do you remember how you felt? Did the winner treat you the same as you treated him? You vowed that you were going to win the next time, so the competing becomes more fierce with one or more crossing the line, thus treating each other in a way the LORD does not approve. .

Satan not only introduced sin into the world but also competing. Satan competes with the LORD, or contends with Him, as is usually found in the Bible. The LORD does not want man to join Satan and contend against HIM. 2 Timothy 2:24 says, "But the servant of the LORD must not strive, but to be gentle to all, opt to teach, patient." In Luke 13:24 we find the way the LORD desires for you to compete: "Strive to enter into the narrow gate, for I say to you, many will seek to enter in and shall not be able."

You cannot successfully contend against the LORD or Satan. We know who is going to win the contest so join the winning side, that being the side of the LORD. The LORD is the only one who can rebuke Satan as shown in the dispute over Moses' body by the archangel. If the strongest angel can't compete with Satan, who are we?

The Bible gives you guide lines and examples of how you are to act or react to any and every situation in a manner acceptable to the LORD. It is up to you to know and understand the LORD's way. Always be ready to challenge any word by man in the name of the LORD. I express my understanding of the meaning of the LORD's word and have no objection to someone correcting my thinking. I hold the same privilege, because each of us will stand alone before the LORD to answer for our own deeds.

I offer the following as a testimony of the way the LORD wants his children to be. Just one example: The LORD discourages Lawsuits (1 Corinthians 6). Be Christ-like (Philippians 2).

In closing, I offer the following list for study to understand the way of the LORD. To write all of them here would require more space than available. So I list some of them so you can see for yourself what the LORD has to say about the subject. The word from the top is better than I can do, thus no misinterpretation on my part.

• Genesis 6:3: "And Jehovah said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, in his erring; he is flesh. Yet his days shall be a hundred and twenty years."
• Genesis 26:22: "And he moved from there, and dug another well, and they did not strive for that. And he called the name of it Broad Places. And he said, For now Jehovah has made room for us, and we shall be fruitful in the land."
• Judges 11:25: "And now are you any better than Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab? Did he ever strive against Israel, or did he ever fight against them?"
• Psalms 35: 1: "Strive, 0 Jehovah, with those who strive with me; fight against those who fight against me."
• Proverbs 3:30: "Do not strive with a man without cause, if he has done you no harm."
• Hosea 4:4: "Yet let no man strive, nor reprove another. For your people are as those who strive with the priest."
• Matthew 12:19: "He shall not strive, nor cry, nor shall anyone hear His voice in the streets."
• Luke 13:24: "Strive to enter in at the narrow gate. For I say to you, many will seek to enter in and shall not be able."
• Romans 15:30: "But I exhort you, brothers, for the sake of the Lord Jesus Christ and for the love of the Spirit, that you strive together with me in your prayers to God for me,.."
• l Corinthians 12:31: "But zealously strive after the better gifts. And yet I show to you a more excellent way."
• 2 Timothy 2:24: "But the servant of the Lord must not strive, but to be gentle to all, apt to teach, patient, ..."