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Is it worth the Battle?

A while ago, I saw a couple of deer heads mounted on a wall. That is not that notable in this part of the world, but this pair was unique, because their horns were intertwined.

Two bucks had been fighting and headbutting one another when they got their horns so tangled up that they could not free themselves. In fact, they were so strongly caught that one of the deer eventually died and then, finally, a hunter shot the other one. The mount on the wall was done in such a way so that those two bucks are still stuck together.

Now, think about this: Had those two not been fighting or trying to prove that they were the strongest, they may still be alive today. However, because they decided to try to beat each other down, both of them ended up dead.

In Galatians 5:26 comes to mind here. It says, “Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying one another”.

I am told that the word that is translated “provoking” could also be translated “challenging one another”.

This passage is a reminder to churches everywhere. We are not to become so conceited that we look down on our brothers and sisters. We are not to envy one another and allow that to ruin our relationships. We are not supposed to be challenging one another and trying to beat one another down, just to show who is the strongest and the most powerful. The church is not about pride, power and conceit. Instead it is to be about things like “Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control” (Galatians 5:22-23).

Those two deer ended up killing one another in a battle to see who was the toughest. The same thing can occur today if we are not smarter.

“If you keep on biting and devouring each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other” (Galatians 5:15).

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