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Contentions Among BrethrenProverbs 18:18-19“The lot causeth contentions to cease, and parteth between the mighty. A brother offended is harder to be won than a strong city: and their contentions are like the bars of a castle.”Our verses seem to speak of contention between brothers. Family contentions are bad and so are contentions between the brethren in a church family. Back in the day a “lot” was cast or used to decide the contention, but Christians today should not “cast lots” to see who is right or wrong when we have a Bible before us and the Holy Spirit within us. Let God through His Word help us to solve our differences. When contentions are not settled, our verses show us that the contentions can become like “bars of a castle” locking the people involved into a prison of a vicious cycle of who is right or wrong.Contentions between Christians can be so destructive to the cause of Christ. I am afraid that sometimes the contention becomes a matter of pride, which further divides. Proverbs 22:10 says,“Cast out the scorner, and contention shall go out; yea, strife and reproach shall cease.”The word “scorner” means one who mouths at. The scorner needs to be “cast out”!I do not believe the scorner is the other person in the contention. The scorner is our prideful self! Cast that man out and the contention will go out, and so will the strife and so will the reproach that it brings upon your family and/or the church.