Anger never persuades. Hostility builds no one. Contention never leads to inspired solutions....Contention prevents the Holy Ghost from being our constant companion.
April 2025
General Conference
Russell M. Nelson
Showing posts with label Contention. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Contention. Show all posts
Monday, December 1, 2025
Wednesday, May 7, 2025
What should followers of Christ teach and do in this time of toxic communications
What should followers of Christ teach and do in this time of toxic communications? What were His teachings and examples?
It is significant that among the first principles Jesus taught when He appeared to the Nephites was to avoid contention. While He taught this in the context of disputes over religious doctrine, the reasons He gave clearly apply to communications and relationships in politics, public policy, and family relationships....
“Contention is a choice. Peacemaking is a choice. You have your agency to choose contention or reconciliation. I urge you to choose to be a peacemaker, now and always.”
Potential adversaries should begin their discussions by identifying common ground on which all agree.
To follow our Perfect Role Model and His prophet, we need to practice what is popularly known as the Golden Rule: “All things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets.” We need to love and do good to all. We need to avoid contention and be peacemakers in all our communications. This does not mean to compromise our principles and priorities but to cease harshly attacking others for theirs. That is what our Perfect Role Model did in His ministry. That is the example He set for us as He invited us to follow Him.
October 2024
General Conference
Dallin H. Oaks
Monday, April 22, 2024
By Union of Feeling We Obtain Pow'r With God
In 1842, the Saints were working hard to build the Nauvoo Temple. After the founding of the Relief Society in March, the Prophet Joseph often came to their meetings to prepare them for the sacred, unifying covenants they would soon make in the temple.
On June 9, the Prophet “said he was going to preach mercy[.] Supposing that Jesus Christ and [the] angels should object to us on frivolous things, what would become of us? We must be merciful and overlook small things.” President Smith continued, “It grieves me that there is no fuller fellowship—if one member suffer all feel it—by union of feeling we obtain pow’r with God.”
By Union of Feeling We Obtain Power With God, Sharon Eubank, October 2020 General Conference
Wednesday, October 25, 2023
the best is yet to come for those who spend their lives building up others.
My dear brothers and sisters, the best is yet to come for those who spend their lives building up others. Today I invite you to examine your discipleship within the context of the way you treat others. I bless you to make any adjustments that may be needed so that your behavior is ennobling, respectful, and representative of a true follower of Jesus Christ.
I bless you to replace belligerence with beseeching, animosity with understanding, and contention with peace.
April 2023
Relief Society and Elders Quorum
Russell M. Nelson
Contention never leads to inspired solutions
Vulgarity, faultfinding, and evil speaking of others are all too common. Too many pundits, politicians, entertainers, and other influencers throw insults constantly. I am greatly concerned that so many people seem to believe that it is completely acceptable to condemn, malign, and vilify anyone who does not agree with them. Many seem eager to damage another’s reputation with pathetic and pithy barbs!
Anger never persuades. Hostility builds no one. Contention never leads to inspired solutions. Regrettably, we sometimes see contentious behavior even within our own ranks. We hear of those who belittle their spouses and children, of those who use angry outbursts to control others, and of those who punish family members with the “silent treatment.” We hear of youth and children who bully and of employees who defame their colleagues.
My dear brothers and sisters, this should not be. As disciples of Jesus Christ, we are to be examples of how to interact with others—especially when we have differences of opinion. One of the easiest ways to identify a true follower of Jesus Christ is how compassionately that person treats other people....
The Savior’s message is clear: His true disciples build, lift, encourage, persuade, and inspire—no matter how difficult the situation. True disciples of Jesus Christ are peacemakers.
April 2023
Relief Society and Elders Quorum
Russell M. Nelson
Monday, October 16, 2023
Unity does not require sameness, but it does require harmony.
When he later met with the First Presidency, Elder Roberts said, “I went to the Lord and received light and instruction through His Spirit to submit to the authority of God.” Motivated by his love of God, B. H. Roberts remained a faithful and an able Church leader to the end of his life.
We can also see in this example that unity does not mean simply agreeing that everyone should do his or her own thing or go his or her own way. We cannot be one unless we all bend our efforts to the common cause. It means, in B. H. Roberts’s words, submitting to the authority of God. We are different members of the body of Christ, fulfilling different functions at different times—the ear, the eye, the head, the hand, the feet—yet all of one body. Therefore, our goal is “that there should be no schism in the body; but that the members should have the same care one for another.”
Unity does not require sameness, but it does require harmony. We can have our hearts knit together in love, be one in faith and doctrine, and still cheer for different teams, disagree on various political issues, debate about goals and the right way to achieve them, and many other such things. But we can never disagree or contend with anger or contempt for one another. Said the Savior:
“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.
“Behold, this is not my doctrine, to stir up the hearts of men with anger, one against another; but this is my doctrine, that such things should be done away.”
A year ago, President Russell M. Nelson pled with us in these words: “None of us can control nations or the actions of others or even members of our own families. But we can control ourselves. My call today, dear brothers and sisters, is to end conflicts that are raging in your heart, your home, and your life. Bury any and all inclinations to hurt others—whether those inclinations be a temper, a sharp tongue, or a resentment for someone who has hurt you. The Savior commanded us to turn the other cheek [see 3 Nephi 12:39], to love our enemies, and to pray for those who despitefully use us [see 3 Nephi 12:44].”
I say again that it is only in and through our individual loyalty to and love of Jesus Christ that we can hope to be one—one within, one at home, one in the Church, eventually one in Zion, and above all, one with the Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost.
April 2023
General Conference
D. Todd Christofferson
Tuesday, November 1, 2022
I plead with you to do all you can to end personal conflicts that are currently raging in your hearts and in your lives.
None of us can control nations or the actions of others or even members of our own families. But we can control ourselves. My call today, dear brothers and sisters, is to end conflicts that are raging in your heart, your home, and your life. Bury any and all inclinations to hurt others—whether those inclinations be a temper, a sharp tongue, or a resentment for someone who has hurt you. The Savior commanded us to turn the other cheek, to love our enemies, and to pray for those who despitefully use us....Brothers and sisters, I know what I’m suggesting is not easy. But followers of Jesus Christ should set the example for all the world to follow. I plead with you to do all you can to end personal conflicts that are currently raging in your hearts and in your lives.
April 2022
General Conference
Russell M. Nelson
Wednesday, August 31, 2022
This war in heaven was not a war of bloodshed. It was a war of conflicting ideas—the beginning of contention. Russell M. Nelson, “The Canker of Content
This war in heaven was not a war of bloodshed. It was a war of conflicting ideas—the beginning of contention.
Sunday, September 12, 2021
Competition vs Contention
Athletes from all over the world have come together in Tokyo, Japan. The Olympic Games will shine a light on athletes and teams demonstrating friendship and respect even as they compete against each other for gold, silver, and bronze medals.
There is a difference, however, between healthy competition and any kind of destructive contention, which the Savior declared was “not of [Him], but is of the devil” (3 Nephi 11:29). On the other hand, friendship and respect can literally be lifesaving.
I was among those who worked to develop an artificial heart-lung machine, which in turn helped in the pioneering of open-heart surgery. There was a great spirit of cooperation and respect among the few of us working in that new area of medical research. We knew that our real competition was against disease and death. Our cooperation in the race to pioneer new medical procedures literally saved lives.
It is possible to disagree with others without violating the Savior’s injunction to “love one another, as I have loved you” (John 15:12). It is possible to have a different opinion than your neighbor while still loving that neighbor. It is even possible to “compete” in a spirit of mutual respect that brings out the best in everyone.
May we reflect personally on what we can do to eliminate contention from our own lives as we embrace the Olympic ideals of excellence, friendship, and respect.
Saturday, April 25, 2020
Enable Thy people hereafter to avoid bitterness and strife, and to refrain from words and acts in political discussions that shall create feeling and grieve Thy Holy Spirit.
O God, the Eternal Father, Thou knowest all things. Thou seest the course Thy people have been led to take in political matters. They have, in many instances, joined the two great national parties. Campaigns have been entered upon, elections have been held, and much party feeling has been engendered. Many things have been said and done which have wounded the feelings of the humble and the meek, and which have been a cause of offense. We beseech Thee, in Thine infinite mercy and goodness, to forgive Thy people wherein they have sinned in this direction. Show them, O Father, their faults and their errors, that they may see the same in the light of Thy Holy Spirit, and repent truly and sincerely, and cultivate that spirit of affection and love which Thou art desirous that all the children of men should entertain one for another, and which Thy Saints, above all others, should cherish. Enable Thy people hereafter to avoid bitterness and strife, and to refrain from words and acts in political discussions that shall create feeling and grieve Thy Holy Spirit.
Wilford Woodruff, Dedicatory Prayer, Salt Lake Temple, 6 April 1893
Wilford Woodruff, Dedicatory Prayer, Salt Lake Temple, 6 April 1893
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