Think not that I am come to send peace on earth:
I came not to send peace, but a sword.
For I am come to set a man at variance against his father,
and the daughter against her mother,
and the daughter in law against her mother in law.
And a man’s foes shall be they of his own household. Matthew 10:34-36
God’s word is alive.
The meaning is not quite the same for everyone in every situation.
Jesus told us many things to warn us.
The warnings I see here are:
to not set any person ahead of God in our lives
or be dedicated to any person above our dedication to Jesus.
The other warning is that
we will most likely be betrayed
by someone(s) that we trust and have faith in.
We just need to keep following Jesus and keep Him at the center of our lives.
And a man’s foes shall be they of his own household
That sword that divides us from the world is of the Lord
And the brother shall deliver up the brother to death,
and the father the child:
and the children shall rise up against their parents,
and cause them to be put to death. Matthew 10:21
Sometimes it is difficult to understand.
We need to cling to the Lord and keep following Him no matter how hard it is
He doesn’t divide at all times
It is most often when there is a spiritual difference.
It can also be when love grows cold from one person to another
Darkness and light cannot dwell together.
Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers,
for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness?
And what communion hath light with darkness? 2 Corinthians 6:14
Sometimes God’s grace is there and you know it is His grace.
I have noticed that many times that people have been in my life,
particularly unsaved people, and for years, God’s grace is there.
I’ve prayed and witnessed to them,
then all of a sudden, you can feel His grace is gone.
That is division.
He sees hearts.
He knows when we are no longer effective in a situation.
I had a childhood friend who turned away from the Lord,
even as much as to call God evil.
The Lord divided us.
I could not tolerate her anger toward the Lord any longer.
I did not end in bitterness but more of a matter of fact that she despised God.
Another friend of over 25 years believed when Prince died
that she had met him and he wanted to marry her.
That if only they had actually married, he never would have died.
She wanted me to participate in her fantasy.
I tried to help her in many ways.
This was grievous to me, not so much because of her delusions
but that she had had the opportunity
many times to follow the Lord as I had witnessed to her over the years
and she must’ve finally made up her mind.
I believe the division from her was a repercussion of her refusing the Lord repeatedly.
It was out of my hands.
She finally did not want to speak to me anymore
when I told her I couldn’t pretend that I thought she met Prince
and he wanted to marry her.
I couldn’t lie.
Whatever the case is, there are people who come into our lives
to hear the gospel and eventually, if they refuse,
the Lord will remove His grace from the relationship.
God wants us to love and to continue loving.
He never wants our love to grow cold.
To have hardened hearts makes us ineffective as Christians.
Keep loving, keep forgiving.
Let God be in charge,
release the relationship to Him, who does all things well.
But if the unbelieving depart, let him depart.
A brother or a sister is not under bondage in such cases:
but God hath called us to peace. 1 Corinthians 7:15
While this scripture is in the instructions of what to do
if someone is married to an unbeliever,
it bears resemblance to all relationships
and the way God wants us to honor Him and trust Him.
There are times when that sword may come
and divide you from someone very important to you.
And a man’s foes shall be they of his own household. Matthew 10:36
Do not hold on at any cost.
He that loveth father or mother more than me
is not worthy of me:
and he that loveth son or daughter more than me
is not worthy of me.
Matthew 10:37