There once was a large family full of boys.

At dinner time, the boys with the longer reach were able to grab the most food.

But the family realized that this was bringing a lot of contention.

Greed from the older boys, and resentment from the older boys.

And so they counseled together and came up with a solution:

Each boy had to keep at least one foot on the floor when they reached for more food.

This led to a fun way to eliminate contention.

President Nelson (who shared a version of the above story) counseled:

“My concern is that contention is becoming accepted as a way of life. From what we see and hear in the media, the classroom, and the workplace, all are now infected to some degree with contention.”

He said that in 1989.

I think it’s powerful to notice two things:

First, contention is literally from the devil.

He will try anything to get us to avoid the first two great commandments – to love God, and to love others.

But the second lesson is much more hopeful:

Rooting out contention starts at home.

The parents of the boys at the table didn’t let the contention stay. They didn’t throw up their hands and say, “Boys will be boys!”

They modeled and encouraged their sons to find a way to solve the problem in unity, while getting rid of contention.

Kyle and I know as our kids grow that this will be one of our biggest responsibilities – to show them that differences can be solved by working together.

We can show them to avoid contention.

But in order to show, we have to know how to do that.

I believe fully and completely that we can stand up for the things we believe in, point out injustice, discuss various opinions, and be powerful forces for good, without needing any contention.

And how did our Savior teach the people to turn away from this evil attitude?

Of course, the answer is to turn to Jesus Christ.

He is the one who shows us the true worth of others, who wants us to feel nothing but love for the people we interact with every day.

But we have to try – we have to want it. We have to ask our Savior to remove all contention from our hearts. And then we can receive.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

Share:

Facebook
Pinterest
Email
Print

2 Responses

  1. thank you for this reminder–in order to have peace and harmony in our homes, we need to rid our lives of contention by turning to the Savior and asking for help

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

I accept the Privacy Policy

Keep Studying

Related Posts

Toxic positivity 

I’ve been seeing A LOT of people talking online recently about the dangers of toxic positivity. ⁣ And I love it. ⁣ In case you

Stretchy yoga pants 

As soon as I realize I don’t need to leave the house for the rest of the day… I quickly change into stretchy, cozy yoga

The tough 6th grader 

“Oh yeah, I don’t put up with any of his nonsense. I just call him out for it in front of everyone.”⁣ This is the

Know your stewardship

When I write spiritual thoughts on social media or in my emails, I do my best to have the Spirit with me. It makes it

Nervous teaching assistant 

“Don’t be nervous! Teachers always love people who just jump in and help out without being told!”⁣ But I was still nervous. ⁣ It was