Contention in our families drives the spirit of the Lord away.
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I’m probably the most guilty of this in my family. I can always find a way to stir the pot, whether I’m trying to or not.
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I read an article today from B.H. Roberts. In it, he talks about a time when Joseph Smith was troubled by contention.
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David Whitmer recalled: “One morning when he was getting ready to continue the translation, something went wrong about the house and he was put out about it. Something that Emma, his wife, had done.
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Oliver and I went up stairs, and Joseph came up soon after to continue the translation, but he could not do anything. He could not translate a single syllable.
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He went down stairs, out into the orchard and made supplication to the Lord; was gone about an hour—came back to the house, asked Emma’s forgiveness and then came up stairs where we were and the translation went on all right. He could do nothing save. He was humble and faithful.”
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As I thought this morning, I pondered on some of the different companions of contention?
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Here are a few I considered—contention of war; contention and dissension; contention and the shedding of blood; contention and disturbance; contention and lack of peace; contention and taking up arms; contention and difficulties; contention and pride; contention and wickedness; contention and strife.
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I find it interesting to study the lives of our prophets, especially Joseph Smith. Think of all the contention he had to face. One contention he had to face, many of us have to face—the tension between in-laws.
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Joseph had tension between Emma’s parents because he refused to let them see the gold plates.
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Another contention many can relate with is financial needs. Joseph Smith had to hold off on translating the book of Mormon to take care of those matters.
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Some may relate to the Joseph Smith and Emma when they lost a baby and she was in frail health. I can imagine the contention this could have caused.
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Ezra Taft Benson reminds us, ”Contention in our families drives the spirit of the Lord away. It also drives many of our family members away. Contention ranges from a hostile spoken word to worldwide conflicts.”