OCTOBER 14, Genesis 13:1-9

Quarrelling is a major problem for many people. Is it yours too? In school, have you quarrelled with your classmates? What did you quarrel about? What about at home? Do you and your sibling argue about not sharing the use of the computer? How did the quarrels start? Why didn’t you give in to your friends or your siblings? How do we overcome this problem of quarrelling? Learn from the story of Abram and his nephew.

Abram and Lot were blessed by the Lord with great wealth – cattle, silver and gold. Imagine how rich they were – the fields were filled with thousands of grazing cattle, and they had a lot of gold and silver.

But wealth brings troubles. There were simply too many animals that needed to feed in the same fields. The servants of Lot and Abram quarrelled as they both wanted more land. Something had to be done. The solution was simple: Abram and Lot were to take separate parcels of land so their servants and livestock would not need to compete. As an elder, Abram should have the choice of which lot. But he was a godly man and instead, gave the choice to his nephew, Lot.

What was the root of the quarrelling between the servants of Abram and Lot? Why do quarrels occur? Usually due to our selfishness, pride and greed. Lot did not have enough land for his servants and cattle and tents, and so wanted more.

The Apostle Paul writing to the Ephesian believers gave the remedy for the issue of quarrelling – (Ephesians 4:31)

Let all _______________ (SSENRETTIB), and __________ (HTARW), and __________ (REGNA), and ____________ (RUOMALC), and _________________________________ (LIVE GNIKAEPS), be put away from you, with all                                                     (ECILAM)

(Clue: reverse the order of the letters of the words in the brackets).

Dear child, remember to put away all these bad feelings and sin in your heart so that you will not strive with people.

Thought: How do you solve the problem of quarrelling?

Prayer: Heavenly Father, quarrelling with people is wrong. Help me to get rid of those bad feelings against people and not quarrel. In this way, I will please You. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.