Laying Down of Contentions

When the Savior was among the Nephites, He counseled them in these words, “there shall be no disputations among you, as there have hitherto been; neither shall there be disputations among you concerning the points of my doctrine, as there have hitherto been. For verily, verily I say unto you, he that hath the spirit of contention is not of me, but is of the devil, who is the father of contention, and he stirreth up the hearts of men to contend with anger, one with another” (3 Nephi 11:28-29).  For me following that counsel to avoid contention has always been easy—until I had children old enough to fight.  Now it is often a real struggle to keep peace in the home when the disputations over this or that seem to be endless.  One of the Book of Mormon’s purposes is the “laying down of contentions,” and while that I believe was meant to apply to contentions about the doctrine of Christ, surely this sacred book of scripture can help teach us how to lay down contentions in our own lives as well (2 Nephi 3:12).

               We see one example of reducing contention in the missionary labors of the sons of Mosiah.  Mormon recorded that one of the reasons they wanted to preach the gospel to the Lamanites was to reduce contention between their peoples.  He wrote that they desired to “impart the word of God to their brethren, the Lamanites… that they might also be brought to rejoice in the Lord their God, that they might become friendly to one another, and that there should be no more contentions in all the land which the Lord their God had given them” (Mosiah 28:2).  And this worked in a powerful way, for so affected were these Lamanites by the word of God that they “became a righteous people; they did lay down the weapons of their rebellion, that they did not fight against God any more, neither against any of their brethren” (Alma 23:7).  This was one of the most dramatic outcomes of the preaching of the gospel to the Lamanites; they willingly gave up their weapons and sought to end all contention.  Surely for us a similar preaching of the word of God will help us to reduce the disputations and contention in our home.  And the story of the sons of Mosiah also teaches us not to give up on this even when our first efforts don’t have any effect; for Aaron and his brethren, “It was their lot to have fallen into the hands of a more hardened and a more stiffnecked people” (Alma 20:30).  And yet, they did not give up, and ultimately the city of Middoni, where they had been originally rejected and thrown into prison, was listed among those cities who were converted unto the Lord and who “laid down the weapons of their rebellion” (Alma 23:10, 13).  This story encourages us to trust in the power of the word of God to reduce contention, even if initial results are not what we hope for. 

               A second important way that the Book of Mormon teaches us to reduce contention is through love.  The people of 4^th Nephi didn’t have any contention among them, and Mormon explained why: “And it came to pass that there was no contention in the land, because of the love of God which did dwell in the hearts of the people” (4 Nephi 1:15).  The love which filled their hearts left no room for contention. This is what Alma taught is people in the land of Helam: “Thus did Alma teach his people, that every man should love his neighbor as himself, that there should be no contention among them” (Mosiah 23:15).  If we truly love our neighbor or friend or family member, then surely we will have no desire to contend or argue or fight with them.  Love overcomes all contention.  This  is exactly what the Savior showed us through His life; His enemies often tried to stir up contention as they railed against Him, but they could never succeed in creating contention between them and Him because of the perfect love He had.  For example, as He was illegally tried by the Sanhedrin and an officer struck Jesus, the Master replied in perfect control and love: “If I have spoken evil, bear witness of the evil: but if well, why smitest thou me?” (John 18:23)  He simply could not be riled up to fight against them, even when His enemies sought to contend with Him, because of His love for His Father and all mankind.  Surely love is the great antidote for us as we seek to contend with contention in our lives.  Where the love of God dwells, there can be no disputations and contention among us.