“Sirs, you are brethren;
why do you wrong one another?” (Acts 7:26). It is evident that though Moses’
interference (referred to in this verse) may savor of fleshly activity, he
keenly felt the unseemly conduct of these two brethren in Israel who strove together—a sad testimony surely to the Egyptians about them.

    Stephen says, “He
supposed his brethren would have understood how God by his hand would deliver
them; but they understood not” (verse 25). We cannot say how far the faith of
Moses carried him at this time, but it is evident that he felt how unbecoming
was their conduct and reproved their unbrotherly ways.

    A similar incident
occurred when the herdsmen of Abram and Lot strove together. The man of faith
said, “Let there be no strife between me and you … for we are brethren”
(Gen. 13:8). Abram, to whom the land belonged by virtue of God’s promise (see
Gen. 12:7), relinquished his claim, and gave up his rights in favor of
Lot—blessed spirit of loving surrender and self-abnegation! What an effectual
way to eliminate strife, which would soon engender a “root of bitterness” and
defile many. Abram’s faith in God produced a moral elevation raising him above
the petty bickering of the herdsmen. At all times God will defend the cause of
those who commit their way to Him.

    Moses sought to impress
upon them the fact of their relationship. “You are brethren.” How unseemly,
therefore, was their conduct! Moses’ appeal has a voice for us also.
United, we can stand against external foes, but internal strife
will surely bring disintegration, and this seems to be the special effort of
the enemy’s attack today against the assemblies of God’s people.

    With purpose the Spirit
of God has written, “Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God;
lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be
defiled” (Heb. 12:15). Let us, then, be careful not to harbor envious thoughts,
suspicions, pride, jealousies—all of which spring from the flesh, which came
under God’s judgment in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. Let us assiduously
watch against the little differences that arise, remembering that “the beginning
of strife is as when one lets out water” (Prov. 17:14) which may soon become
uncontrollable and devastating.

    A seed of discord had
evidently come up in the assembly at Philippi (Phil. 4:2). What a delicate task
lay before the apostle! They had ministered to his necessities, and while his
heart rejoiced in their fellowship in the gospel (1:5), he felt the need of admonishing
them. But how tenderly, how lovingly, he deals with this difficulty in their
midst! We find no harsh criticism, no thought of “settling things” by apostolic
power. The great antidote to strife he gives in chapter 2:“Let nothing be done
through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other
better than themselves. Look not every man on his own things, but every man
also on the things of others. Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ
Jesus” (verses 4,5). How constantly we need to have this blessed Example before
us! He, before whom all heaven bowed, God’s well-beloved, came here in lowly
grace to serve; humbling Himself, He “became obedient unto death, even
the death of the cross” (verse 8). This was His “mind”; and shall we, the
objects of such grace and love, vaunt ourselves, or seek a place where our Lord
humbled Himself? “Strife” and “vainglory” are surely unbecoming of the
followers of Him who is “meek and lowly of heart.” We owe our all to the
One who died upon a gibbet; how this should humble our pride!

    How natural it is for us
to assert ourselves and to resent anything that might touch our
prestige; how foreign to the flesh to “esteem other better than ourselves,” but
what a blessed mark of the Spirit’s work when this precept characterizes the
saints of God. What a healer of breaches!

    “Finally,” says Peter,
“be all of one mind, having compassion one of another, love as brethren,
be pitiful, be courteous:not rendering evil for evil, or railing for railing,
but contrariwise blessing; knowing that you are thereunto called, that you
should inherit a blessing” (1 Pet. 3:8,9).

     (From Help and Food,
Vol. 43).