The Spirit of Contention

Today I read Alma 21 which goes back in time a little ways and tells the story of Aaron and Muloki and how they came to be in prison as well as finishes off the story of Ammon and King Lamoni for the time being. Aaron it seems had spent quite a bit of time among the Amulonites and Amalakites who had hardened their hearts to the point that they would not hear the word.

They would ask Aaron questions but not with the intent to learn. They asked questions to antagonize and to quarrel. They had the Spirit of Contention about them which we know is not from the Lord. The Spirit of Contention is always from the devil, which leads mankind to do that which is wrong.

Just about anyone who has ever served a mission has had at least one moment when they felt the spirit of contention. Anytime someone wishes to prove you wrong with the scriptures, they are doing so out of a contentious attitude. They do not have the desire for your well-being, even though they might say they do.

It always amazes me how, violent people get when they are trying to save someone. I do not mean physically abusive, rather I mean how angry people get. They yell, they scream, they threaten, it's a horrible sight to behold. I remember one day as a missionary we went to pick up our investigator for church and she met us at the door and asked us to leave and never come back because we had gotten her in a lot of trouble. As we asked what was wrong, the door was ripped back and she was physically shoved away as a minister of another faith filled the door frame and proceeded to yell and scream at us.

I remember I felt awful as we left that door. Sadly I did not feel awful for the welfare of that poor woman who had to put up with that minister, I felt awful because I had never in my life felt such a concentrated amount of the spirit of contention in one dose. As I later recorded in my journal, it was then that I realized that the devil was very,very real and that he hated us. It was a horrible feeling and one I did not shake for quite some time.

In the past 10 years from that day to this, I have had many, many more instances where I felt the spirit of contention beating down on me and I have not always reacted as I should have. I am mortal and prone to pride. Aaron in this chapter demonstrated the right way to handle such animosity, by removing yourself from the situation and not allowing yourself to be bated into responding, because it will not get you anywhere. The only way to win when the spirit of contention is present is to keep calm and remove yourself from the situation and you will do far, far more good that way than you ever would if you responded in kind. I have seen miracles happen from just walking away instead of responding. Because it's when we walk away that people pause, start thinking and the contention is replaced by another kind of Spirit which can work miracles. Until tomorrow.