“Canst thou by searching find out God? canst thou find out the Almighty unto perfection?” (Job 11:7).

The qualities that are essential for all to possess in order to know God are those that mark the completeness of Christ’s character - His love, patience, and unselfishness. These attributes are cultivated by doing kind actions with a kindly heart. “Jesus said unto [Zacchaeus], This day is salvation come to this house, forsomuch as he also is a son of Abraham. For the Son of man come to seek and to save that which is lost” (Luke 19:9, 10).

“ ‘The chief among the publicans,’ Zacchaeus, was a Jew, and detested by his countrymen. His rank and wealth were the reward of a calling they abhorred, and which was regarded as another name for injustice and extortion. Yet the wealthy customs officer was not altogether the hardened man of the world that he seemed. Beneath the appearance of worldliness and pride was a heart susceptible to divine influences. . . .

“Already he had begun thus to retrace his steps, when the news sounded through Jericho that Jesus was entering the town. Zacchaeus determined to see Him. He was beginning to realize how bitter are the fruits of sin, and how difficult the path of him who tries to return from a course of wrong. To be misunderstood, to be met with suspicion and distrust in the effort to correct his errors, was hard to bear.”2

“The dying thieves have no longer anything to fear from man. But upon one of them presses the conviction that there is a God to fear, a future to cause him to tremble. And now, all sin-polluted as it is, his life history is about to close. ‘And we indeed justly,’ he moans; ‘for we receive the due reward of our deeds; but this Man hath done nothing amiss’ (Luke 23:41).

“There is no question now. There are no doubts, no reproaches. When condemned for his crime, the thief had become hopeless and despairing; but strange, tender thoughts now spring up. He calls to mind all he has heard of Jesus, how he has healed the sick and pardoned sin. He has heard the words of those who believed in Jesus and followed Him weeping. . . . The Holy Spirit illuminates his mind, and little by little the chain of evidence is joined together. In Jesus, bruised, mocked, and hanging upon the cross, he sees the Lamb of God, that taketh away the sin of the world. Hope is mingled with anguish in his voice as the helpless, dying soul casts himself upon a dying Saviour. ‘Lord, remember me,’ he cries, ‘when Thou comest into Thy kingdom.’

“Quickly the answer came. Soft and melodious the tone, full of love, compassion, and power the words: ‘Verily I say unto thee today, Thou shall be with Me in Paradise.’ ”3

The Bible verse quoted above from Ephesians (5:4) basically tells us, “You should be thanking God instead.” I realized that I could not speak harshly and give thanks to God simultaneously. I could not even criticize those around me if I had a thankful attitude about them. I immediately decided to put this principle to work in my life. One day, one of my sons took the keys of my car without permission. He drove the car a few kilometers from the house, overturned it and the car was damaged beyond repair. Upon receiving the news of the accident, without wasting time, I went to fetch him, for I had decided either to shoot or beat him to death. When I learned that he was at his uncle’s home, I rushed there ready to do what I had planned. As I stepped into the yard of the house, I recognized my old behavior pattern. I just stopped and said to myself: “The Word says that this kind of behavior is out of place, so I am going to stop and thank God. I was not nearly as angry and furious after I spent a few minutes praising and thanking the Lord for my son. The Spirit of Prophecy forbids us to correct our children in anger:

“Impatience in the parents excites impatience in the children. Passion manifested by the parents creates passion in the children and stirs up the evils of their nature. Some parents correct their children severely in a spirit of impatience, and often in passion. Such correction produce no good results. In seeking to correct one evil, they create two. Continual censuring and whipping hardens children and weans them from their parents. Parents should first learn to control themselves, then they can more successfully control their children. Every time they lose self-control, and speak and act impatiently, they sin against God. . . . With your own hearts subdued and full of pity and sorrow for your erring children, pray with them before correcting them. Then your correction will not cause your children to hate you; They will love you. They will see that you do not punish because they have put you to inconvenience, or because you wish to vent your displeasure upon them; but from a sense of duty, for their good, that they may not be left to growup in sin.”4

When we miss the mark as adults, God does not hit us with a barrage of verbal abuse! Rather, He corrects us with gentle reproof, and that is the way we are to correct our children. When we are angry, if we will just stop for a few minutes and thank the Lord, it will change the way we discipline them. This approach will work in any situation where there is a temptation to tear into someone with cruel and unkind words.

When someone crosses you at your work place, at school, or wherever, instead of the verbal abuse, let your mouth be filled with praise unto your God. He is worthy to be praised! If you are thinking about how good God is, you cannot be talking about how bad others are. A lot of Christians do not realize it, but this is what the Saviour of mankind meant when He said that we are to take up our cross and follow Him. People have some strange ideas about what their cross in life is. Some think it is sickness, others believe it is poverty. Still others think that their unruly teenagers are their cross to bear. But the only thing that you will never be rid of in this life - the one thing that will be your cross to bear - is unkind, hard-to-love people. There will always be someone who will try to provoke you. But in order to stop strife, you will have to take up the cross and follow Jesus. How did Jesus respond to unlovely people? He imitated His heavenly Father and spoke the word of God. He explained in essence, “The words I speak are not my own. I only say what the Father tells me to say.” And John 3:34 tells that because He only spoke the word of God, He had the Holy Spirit in unlimited measure. The power of God was Jesus’ vindication in every situation, not His smart-like words! He did not use any flippant words. He only said what the Father told Him to say.

In Ephesians 4:29-32, we find the kind of things the Father is telling us to do. We should be imitating God no matter what the circumstances are; we are supposed to be acting like God, speaking His word and doing His work. We will be so full of God’s love that there will not be any room for strife. If we keep ourselves busy doing His things, we will not have time to do our things! That is the key to having the power of God as it was manifested in Jesus’ life. The love of God in your heart and the praise of God on your lips are an unbeatable team. When an unlovely person tries to provoke you into strife, you will remember “I am not to be provoked.” Instead of retaliating, let the praise of God come out of your mouth. This does not mean that you have to let them take advantage of you. Praise brings the presence of God on the scene and causes some astonishing things to happen in the spiritual realm.

Notice Psalm 8:2: “Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings hast thou ordained strength because of thine enemies, that thou mightest still the enemy and the avenger.” When Jesus quoted this verse in Matthew 21:16, He said, “Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings thou hast perfected praise.” Jesus compared the equality of praise with strength. Strength against what? Strength against Satan, our only real enemy. Praise stops the devil. Again let us turn to Psalm 9:2-4: “I will be glad and rejoice in thee: I will sing praise to thy name, O thou most High. When mine enemies are turned back, they shall fall and perish at thy presence. For thou hast maintained my right and my cause; thou satest in the throne judging right.” Praise stills the enemy. It stops strife because it stops the source of it - Satan. Praise and love pack a powerful one-two punch. Praise will cause the devil to fall back and perish at the very presence of God coming into a situation, and love never fails. That is why the love of God in your heart and praise of God on your lips are an unbeatable team.

Then you have not only taken a defensive action against contention, but an offensive action as well! An excellent example of how praise backs Satan down comes from Jesus Christ’s example as a youth in His Father’s home. Based on His own experience, He can freely assure us: “ ‘To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne’ (Revelation 3:21) These are the words of our Substitute and Surety. He who is the divine Head of the church, the mightiest of conquerors, would point His followers to His life, His toils, His self-denials, His struggles and sufferings, through contempt, through rejection, ridicule, scorn, insult, mockery, falsehood, up the path of Calvary to the scene of the crucifixion, that they might be encouraged to press on toward the mark for the prize and reward of the overcomer.”5

When, instead of retaliating, in the midst of strife, you praise and thank God, He will not only maintain your peace, but will pacify the other person as well. Surrender of self and commitment to Christ involves a struggle. Because He is no respecter of persons, God will show you a way to have a no-lose situation. Everyone will win but Satan! Eternal life is dependent upon your decision. What will you do with Christ? “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9).

Christ does not offer His righteousness to a person on the premise that he can go on sinning. He gives His righteousness so that man will have that power to obey God. The greatest burden that people are carrying in life is SELF; the most difficult thing one has to manage is SELF. Centuries ago, the Chinese philosopher Laotse said. “He who knows others is clever, but he who knows himself is enlightened. He who overcomes others is strong. But he who overcomes himself is mightier still.” The Bible says it even more clearly: “He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty; and he that ruleth his spirit than he that taketh a city” (Proverbs 16:32).

“Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you (2 Corinthians 13:5). “If we have in any manner defrauded or injured our brother, we should make restitution. If we have unwittingly borne false witness, if we have misstated his words, if we have injured his influence in any way, we should go to the ones with whom we have conversed about him, and take back all our injurious misstatements.”6

Sanctification is a total experience. It begins at conversion but it must continue through life. It is a lifetime of belonging to Christ. And within that relationship to Christ the believer will grow (read John 17:17).

Sanctification is conversion carried to completion. “Beloved, now are we sons of God and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is” (1 John 3:2). Christ adopts those into His family who accept Him and therefore they are predestined to receive an inheritance if they remain faithful in God’s family. This is made possible by Christ’s death (read Ephesians 2:1, 2, 12, 13 and 3:6).

Beginning today, you can conquer strife. Make a decision to keep yourself full of the love of God. Meditate on the “Love” chapter (1 Corinthians 13:4-8). Confess it in the first person several times a day. And when others provoke you, do not retaliate. Instead, give thanks to God for His goodness and watch His presence come on the scene, and put contention under your feet where it belongs! Self-denial, self-sacrifice, benevolence, kindness, love, patience, fortitude and Christian trust are the daily fruits borne by those who are fully connected with God. Their acts may not be published to the world, but they themselves are daily wrestling with evil, and gaining precious victories over temptation and wrong. Solemn vows are renewed, and kept through the strength gained by earnest prayer and constant watching thereunto.

Whenever little annoyances and trials arise, ask God in silent prayer to give you strength and grace to bear them patiently. There is a power in silence: do not speak a word until you have sent up your petition to the God of heaven.