A person who sows discord is described in Proverbs 16:16-19, "How much better to get wisdom than gold, to get insight rather than silver! The highway of the upright avoids evil; those who guard their ways preserve their lives. Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall. Better to be lowly in spirit along with the oppressed than to share plunder with the proud."
A person who sows discord is someone who is always trying to cause problems, stir up gossip, or lie about others. In other words, the type of person who sows discord is not a good person.
What Is the Context of Proverbs 16:16-19?
If we dissect Proverbs 16:16-19, we can break down each of these verses. First, Proverbs 16 tells us that it is better to have wisdom than gold and to have insight instead of silver. The person who wants to do good will be the person who wants to attain wisdom and insight rather than material possessions.
The person who would rather sow discord is the one who would prefer gold and silver over wisdom and insight. We can know this because a person who tries to avoid discord would seek wisdom and insight because these two things could help them turn away from sin.
Second, Proverbs 16 tells us that the person who guards their ways preserves their life while those who have a haughty spirit will fall. It also tells us that the upright will avoid evil. As we can see, the person who sows discord will not guard their ways, nor will they avoid evil.
Instead, they will continue to live with a haughty spirit, and soon they will fall. We are also told in Proverbs 16 that it is better to be lowly in spirit along with the oppressed rather than to share plunder with the proud.
This would not be appealing to someone who sows discord. The person who sows discord would rather share in the plunder with the proud than be with the lowly in spirit.
As the writer of Proverbs tells us, it is better to do good, to stand with the oppressed, and to avoid evil rather than to enjoy the evils of the flesh and the evils of the world. It is best for us to avoid being a person who sows discord.
A person who sows discord is someone who seeks evil, has a haughty spirit, and shares in the plunder of the proud. Rather than doing what is right, the person who sows discord continues to do wrong. As Christians, we need to ensure we are not a person who sows discord but, instead, a person who sows peace.
Warnings Against Discord
There are many people who enjoy sowing discord. This is a horrible reality, yet we have to be aware of these people and stay away from them. They will only cause us problems in our lives. If we are the person who sows discord, we need to repent of this evil path and turn to the Lord.
God knows we are capable of doing horrible, wicked, and evil things, but by turning to Him, He also knows we are capable of amazing, great, and glorious things. If we turn to God in repentance and turn away from seeking out discord, our lives will grow to become better.
Not only will our lives grow to become better, but we will also have better friendships and relationships with others. People who sow discord are not good friends, which is why it is not surprising that those who sow discord don’t have many friends.
Nobody wants to be friends with someone who is always causing problems. Instead, people want to be friends with someone who is uplifting, grounded, and humble. All of these qualities are great in a friend as they can be someone you can count on to be there through each season of life.
However, if you choose to continue to live a life of sowing discord, you will have to deal with the ramifications. Some of the ramifications are losing friends, being alone, and having a broken relationship with God.
Sure, you might have tons of wealth and many possessions, but you are lacking the things that will truly bring you joy, such as having a healthy relationship with God, friendships, and doing things that help others.
It is important to remember that material things cannot and will not bring you eternal happiness. They might bring you a brief period of happiness, but it will not last.
By investing your time and energy into your relationship with God and others, you will have a more joyful and happier life. Sowing discord will only cause problems for everyone involved.
Choose to stay away from the person who sows discord and choose to instead spend time with those who uplift you. People who sow discord will only drain your energy and make you feel bad about yourself.
Life is too short to spend it with people who are going to make you feel down. Invest your time in those who are equally working on their behalf to be good friends.
The person who sows discord cares nothing about their relationships with others as they only care about themselves. They thrive off getting what they want and making things all about them.
They will gossip and lie to control others, and in the process, they can hurt many people by spreading lies and gossip. If you are aware of a person who sows discord in your life, separate yourself from them.
There is no reason to continue to put yourself in this situation. God wants you to be around friends who build you up — not tear you down. If you are the person who sows discord, you can take the proper steps to repent, as mentioned previously.
Individuals who sow discord are wicked people who will grow even more evil if they don’t turn away from their ways. We need to do all we can to recognize these types of behaviors and especially self-reflect to make sure we do not possess any of these qualities.
Being someone who sows discord does not bring God glory. In fact, it does the exact opposite. Sowing discord only brings disgrace to God’s Name and gives a bad testimony to Christianity.
If we are true believers of our Lord Jesus Christ, we need to stay away from practicing sowing discord and instead follow Jesus in our everyday lives.
What Does This Mean?
Being a Christian does not mean we can be a person who sows discords, ask for forgiveness, and then do it all over again. Instead, we need to cease sowing discord and truly turn in repentance to God.
When we turn away in repentance, it means we are seeing the sin as God sees it — utterly wicked. This means we no longer want to engage in sin because it is so terrible. It is only when we truly repent of the sin, such as sowing discord, that we can actually turn away from the sin.
It can be hard to turn away from sin, but God can help us in our struggle. Turn to Him, confess your sin, and ask Him to help you in this struggle. It might take some time, but God is faithful, and He will help you stop sowing discord.
For further reading:
How Do We Show Love to Toxic People?
What Do I Do When Friends Hurt Me?
How Do We Pray for Those Who Hurt Us?
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