Can a person with the spirit of conflict contend with a peaceful person and call it reasoning while the peaceful person will call it conflict?

The more one contends, the more he or she is taken captive by the spirit of conflict. The more they are taken captive by the spirit, the less they are able to see it for what it really is – contention. A person who submits to follow the spirit of conflict will become subject to it, thus making conflict a necessary part of life (Glossary – Contention). One might then find themselves believing that marriage with little conflict is a lie, a friendship without conflict is not a true friendship, and a community without conflict will fail in becoming Zion.

Those who are prone to contention and default to arguing become more contentious as they continue to listen to that spirit – to the point that it requires great effort to gain control over and then reject the spirit of conflict from the heart and mind (Glossary – Contention).

There are two concerns that accompany the decision made by a good person to dispute with others:

First, the Lord’ s example is to refrain from disputing, as He did. When confronted, He would respond, but He did not go about picking a fight with others. He responded (Glossary – Contention).

The Lord refrained from disputing.

Section 174 is the answer given to Denver in response to a request to understand how the Lord defines “mutual agreement.”

As between one another, you choose to not dispute.

When the definition was given, it was accompanied by the realization the Lord could have disputed every day of His life with someone. He deliberately chose to not contend. He was not an argumentative personality.

It is a choice to not dispute, a choice that the Lord made every single day. Sounds a lot like avoiding conflict. The Lord does not have an argumentative personality. In emulating the Lord, we are required to turn away from the spirit of conflict.

In her talk from November 2024 during the women’s conference, Stephanie said:

“I happen to like disputations. I sort of thrive on conflict. It’s the grist for the mill. I mean, how in the world am I supposed to become a better person if someone isn’t pissed off at me and can’t come and tell me. So I have no way of actually working through my stuff if you’re not disputing with me. Now I don’t want to be disputed with all the time. I don’t have that much tolerance, but I love, I really do, I love conflict. I’m sorry, I do. I think it’s great, but I would also like organized conflict. I don’t like chaotic conflict.”

The second concern is:

Second, the Lord has given the Doctrine of Christ in scripture. Just before the Doctrine of Christ, He says what His doctrine is not…(Glossary – Contention)

The Lord said:

In truth I tell you: Anyone who welcomes the spirit of conflict doesn’t follow Me, but is following the accuser, who’s the father of conflict. He incites people to angrily fight with each other. This isn’t My doctrine, to incite angry fighting by people. But this is My doctrine, everything like that should end.

The Lord does not differentiate between healthy conflict and unhealthy conflict, organized conflict and chaotic conflict. He says that it is His doctrine that everything “like that [the spirit of conflict]” should end. You cannot serve two masters.

No one can serve two masters, for they’ll either hate the one and love the other, or at least they’ll follow the one and ignore the other. You can’t serve God and covet (CoC 3 Nephi 5:38).

It’s a daily conscious decision to choose which spirit you will hate and which one you will love, which one you will follow and which one you will ignore.

King Benjamin pleaded with his people:

My people, please make sure you don’t let any conflicts arise among yourselves, and that you don’t follow the evil spirit mentioned by my father Mosiah. A woe is pronounced on anyone who chooses to obey that spirit, and if they remain and die in their sins, that person drinks damnation to their own soul (Mosiah 1:10).

Once again, the scriptures specify that it is a choice to obey that spirit and Christ chose every day not to. He warns against letting any conflicts arise because remaining in that spirit will damn you. If you welcome and engage with the spirit of conflict, you are not following God.

In the Glossary, under Disputation, more clarification is given on how the devil uses conflict over ordinances to draw away light and truth.

The reason arguments arise is because men stop gathering light by righteous behavior. When they lose light, they cease to understand the truth…

Disputes lead to contention, contention leads to anger, and anger is the devil’s tool. So don’t start down that road…

Perplexity cannot exist when there is light and truth…

What fruits will the teachings of someone who follows the spirit of conflict produce? Regarding ordinances:

It is the devil’ s objective to prevent you from practicing the ordinances in the correct manner. But, more importantly, it is his objective to prevent you from becoming one. When he uses arguments over ordinances to cause disunity, he is playing with two tools at the same time. First, changing the ordinances brings about cursings, and second, encouraging contention and anger grieves the spirit, and prevents the saints from becoming one. The devil knows this, even if men do not (Glossary – Disputation).

We cannot become one and become Zion by using conflict as a tool.

A study of conflict in the scriptures shows that someone with the spirit of conflict is not going to be quick to leave and resolve the conflict. They are almost incapable of understanding why a peaceable person would want to leave it and resolve the conflict quickly. What’s the rush? It’s all about the process. We’re just reasoning. Stay engaged and you have a better chance of making it to Zion.

Denver said on his blog:

If you are asked to do something wrong, and you do it out of veneration for a “prophet” you will not be spared, but you will be judged and condemned.

Being petitioned and guilted into staying in conflict does not remove the obligation we each have to obey only God. We are individually responsible for discerning the spirits and the spirit with which things are carried out.

It was mentioned earlier that the Lord’s precepts can sometimes take years to unfold, understand, and adopt into your heart. I believe that to be true. However, care and effort must be taken in having the scriptures unfolded unto you so that you can properly discern between the wisdom of the world and wisdom of God.

The Lord’s truth is referred to as treasures. Treasures take time to discover and accumulate. We must be mindful of what we hold to be sacred. If we treasure darkness, thinking it to be light, we will only have treasured up damnation.

Don’t accumulate treasures on earth, where moths damage, rust corrodes, and thieves break in and steal, but instead accumulate treasures in Heaven, where there are no damaging moths, corrosive rust, and thieves don’t break in and steal; because what you treasure reveals what’s in your heart (CoC 3 Nephi 5:36).

Are you engaging in the process by accumulating the necessary spirit with which to avoid conflict, envy, strife, tumult, and contention (Civilization Paper, 2019)? Or are you polishing your rhetorical skills with such finesse until you are so good at contention that you mistake it as a necessary step towards becoming God’s? Such a spirit is void of the fruit of God’s spirit: love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, and temperance (Glossary – Contention).

When one’s ambition is served, he should question if he is in the Lord’s employ or his own. When someone insists upon control, one should question if he is like the Lord or, instead, like His adversary. When one uses any means for compelling others, one should wonder if he is mocking the God who makes the sun to shine and rain to fall on all His fallen children without compulsion. When one displays unrighteous dominion, he should question whether he is worthy of any dominion at all (Glossary – Contention).

If we choose to not participate in the conflicts amongst ourselves, are we in some way or another demonstrating that we don’t have the skills required for Zion? Using this idea to control and compel those who believe the Lord when He says the spirit of conflict is not of Him only serves to further increase the spirit of conflict amongst us.

Anything claiming to be truth should conform with the truths already given in scripture. Everyone’s motives should be questioned until it is determined by sufficient observation that they are sheep. “Any teaching or person who draws us to them and does not point us to the Lord, is unable to help us. If they try to supplant Christ as the object of admiration, then they are anti-Christ and a false prophet.” (Glossary – False Prophet)

We are obligated to question motives and with a careful eye observe those who claim to teach truth. If that person does not point us to the Lord, which includes His word, they cannot help you. Christ should always remain the focal point in our lives and His spirit should not be supplanted by the spirit of conflict.

These scriptures are sent forth to be my warning to the world, my comfort to the faithful, my counsel to the meek, my reproof to the proud, my rebuke to the contentious, and my condemnation of the wicked. They are my invitation to all mankind to flee from corruption, repent and be baptized in my name, and prepare for the coming judgment (CoC, Prayer).

The Lord says that the scriptures are a rebuke to the contentious. They are all encompassing and adequate. They contain the fulness of the gospel that will lead you back to Christ.

Stephanie said in her October 2024 talk, Pertaining to Partnerships: What it Really Takes

…you know that all of these wonderful things in the Scriptures are great, except there’s no how; there’s no, like, there’s no HOW to do it. It’s just “seek for this, work towards this…” (Thank you so much) “…strive for this, and I’m we’re gonna leave you without any skills or any real knowledge or understanding on how to do it.” So while I am so grateful for the talks that I heard… We got here yesterday, so I heard Jeff do the fellowship talk, and Leroy and Dan, and then Q this morning. I really want to give a huge shout-out and nod specifically to Leroy and Q for bringing in all of this other information that is so important to understand the “how we do things,” and what’sgoing on inside and in your mind and with your emotions, and how you’re sort of interpreting and seeing the world, because that’s the practical application of this stuff.

Contrast this what was said in “The Second Comforter”:

The scriptures are accounts written about and by people who have received the Second Comforter [which we now understand to mean salvation]. They did something to qualify. They tell us what to do. If, therefore, we want to get there, we should be eager to look carefully at what they tell us about how they got there. It is futile to travel other paths and hope to obtain the same things the authors of scriptures obtained while going in another direction—especially when the authors repeatedly tell us there is only one way.

What Denver obtained, as portrayed in the 10th Parable, was brought about by an eagerness to carefully look at the accounts of the people in the scriptures who received the Second Comforter. It is not obtained by traveling other paths of study and authors.

Ether 3:13 “…behold, the Lord showed himself unto him, and said: Because thou knowest these things ye are redeemed from the fall; therefore ye are brought back into my presence; therefore I show myself unto you.”
This is the meaning of salvation. This is the fullness of the gospel of Jesus Christ. This is contained in The Book of Mormon, which has the fullness of Jesus Christ in it.The Lord showed Himself unto him and said, “Because thou knowest these things ye are redeemed from the fall; therefore ye are brought back into my presence; therefore I show myself unto you.” ( 2012.10.28 The Temple, Ogden UT pg. 13).

Lehi accounted that it is only by holding fast to the word of God, which are the scriptures, that you can receive salvation.

Then I realized the iron railing my father saw was God’s word. It led to the source of living waters or to the tree of life, whose waters represent God’s love (CoC 1 Nephi 3:10).

The first group in his vision (CoC 1 Nephi 2:10-11)

• Caught a hold of the word of God
• Moved forward through the dark clouds
• Clinging to the word of God
• Arrived and ate some fruit
• Looked around, ashamed at the wisdom of the world mocking them Left the tree
• Followed forbidden paths and were lost

The second group (CoC 1 Nephi 2:12) – Grasped the word of God

• Moved forward (there is no mention of walking through the dark clouds)
• Continually holding firmly to the word of God
• Arrived AND sat down (they were determined to stay)
• Ate some fruit
• Did not pay attention to the wisdom of the world mocking and making fun of them

A large number of people entered the large building. After they entered the building, they pointed at and made fun of me, and those who were also eating the fruit, but we didn’t pay attention to them. My father said the following: All those who paid attention to the insults fell away. And my father said that Laman and Lemuel didn’t eat any of the fruit (CoC 2:12).

Those, in Lehi’s dream, who took the scriptures as their daily guide (T&C 158:3) and came at last into salvation, they ignored the insults and being made fun of by those who entered the large building. Once again, no one can serve two masters. You will at least follow the one and ignore the other.

Making light of the iron railing and turning attention away from it, the word of God, leads us into the mists of darkness and is definitionally blasphemy (Glossary – Blasphemy). This leads to not understanding the scriptures and therefore not giving them the heed and diligence with which the Lord has commanded.

Crowds had assembled, and I saw they were in a large and spacious building, like the one my father saw. The Angel of the Lord said: Look at the world and its wisdom… I saw and testify that the large and spacious building was the world’s pride, and its fall was terrible (CoC 1 Nephi 3:14).

Turning to the world and its wisdom is a result of finding the scriptures inadequate and lacking. One will find themself believing that there are gaps in the word of God that need to be filled in with the wisdom of the world in order to obtain salvation. However, there is no salvation found there. “Therefore if the light within you looks for the darkness, how overwhelming that darkness becomes (CoC 3 Nephi 5:37).”

So we see the Lord is merciful to all those who call on His holy name in the sincerity of their hearts; we see heaven’s gate is open to all, that is to say, to those who believe in the name of Jesus Christ, who is the Son of God, open to anyone who accepts God’s salvation, which gives life and has power. It will cut through all the accuser’s deceitfulness, traps, and tricks, and then it will lead Christ’s followers along a straight and narrow path to safely cross over that endless abyss of misery…(CoC Helaman 2:7)

God’s salvation, the fullness of which is found in the scriptures, will cut through the accuser’s deceitfulness, traps, and tricks – of which is included the wisdom of the world (CoC 1 Nephi 3:14). The scriptures are not inadequate and if we do not heed them, we will be deceived.

But the Gentiles will proudly view themselves as superior and will have stumbled because they have a great stumbling block: They build up to themselves many churches, but they have no faith in God’s power and miracles. They praise themselves — their own wisdom and knowledge — in their preaching, so they can make money and oppress the poor. Many churches will be established, causing envy, antagonism, and malice. And there will also be secret conspiracies, as in former times, using the accuser’s plan for conspiracies, because he’s involved in the foundation of all these things — the foundation of murder and works of darkness — and he leads them by the neck with a strong rope at the start made of flax, until he enslaves them with his strong ropes forever.

How crafty is the Evil One’s plan! How vain, weak, and foolish are mankind! If they’re educated, they think they’re wise, and they don’t follow God’s counsel. They set it aside, thinking they know better themselves. As a result, their wisdom is foolishness, and doesn’t benefit them, and they will perish. But it’s good to be educated if they also follow God’s counsels (CoC 2 Nephi 6:9).

If you follow God’s counsels by continually holding firmly to the word of God, then it is good to be educated. You are firmly rooted in the scriptures and have the necessary tools with which to discern the light that comes in from everywhere (CoC 3 Nephi 5:37). Those who are educated and think they are wise don’t follow God’s counsel. Believing they know a better way of doing things, they set the word of God aside and place their salvation in the hands of their education and the wisdom of the world. Thus their wisdom is not God’s and is foolishness without benefit to them.

When explaining the details of his record keeping, Nephi clarifies:

However, I haven’t written anything on plates unless I think it’s sacred. If I make mistakes, so did others long ago. I don’t wish to excuse myself because of other men, but I would excuse myself because of the weaknesses of human nature.

What some people consider very valuable, both to the body and spirit, others disregard and trample under their feet. People even trample underfoot the very God of Israel. I say trample underfoot, but I should use other words: they regard Him as unimportant and don’t hearken to His counsels (CoC 1 Nephi 5:35).

As the Lord said in the Covenant of Christ Prayer, “These scriptures are sent forth to be…my counsel to the meek.” To be receptive to His council, we must be meek.

Meekness, among other things, involves a conscious effort to avoid harming or offending others. It requires an absence of pride or self-will. It is not insistent upon being recognized or applauded. It denotes a willingness to suffer without complaint. Others may never recognize the meek, because meekness does not vaunt itself nor demand notice. There is great freedom in meekness. It relieves the meek from the burden of seeking their acclaim. It gives them the security of feeling God’s approval for their course of living. It is private. Meekness means a person voluntarily restrains himself and uses the absolute minimum contr1ol or authority over others. It is related to humility. Humility is voluntary submission to the control or power of God — in other words, obedience. Meekness affects a person’s relationship with his fellow man. There is nothing showy or attention-grabbing about the meek. Instead, they are content to know they have a relationship and power with God. Unless God requires something to be done or revealed, the meek do not voluntarily put this authority on display (Glossary – Meekness).