Not very far away, there are some people engaged in bitter disputation. Perhaps they are arguing over a job, or money, or their rights. The more passionate such struggles become, the less room they afford to kindness, mercy and compassion. The fewer outlets there are for true Christian charity.
“Our struggle is not with flesh and blood but with the principalities, with the powers, with the world rulers of this present darkness, with the evil spirits in the heavens” (Eph 6:12). Evil spirits are hard at work corrupting and uprooting everything that is truly good. They turn us against each other and against ourselves. They rejoice to see neighbors quarreling, because it affords a great opportunity for disordered passion, resentment and vengeance. Whenever two wise parents raise up a fine Christian family, the evil spirits can’t wait to infest it with quarreling and disputation.
Such disputes are ultimately in vain. The real human quarrel is not with our neighbors or our families, but with the evil spirits themselves. To conquer them, we must put on the armor of God: truth, righteousness, peace, faith, salvation, prayer. There lies our most passionate struggle, because on it hinges everything: the present, the past, the future: all eternity. Let those of us who are weak in this struggle, turn to God, in prayer, to “draw strength from the Lord and from his mighty power” (Eph 6:10).