DANGERS OF SIBLING RIVALRY

MEMORY VERSE: And Cain talked with Abel his brother: and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother, and slew him. Genesis 4:8

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Second Corinthians 12- Galatians 1

The agenda of the enemy, the thief, can be summarized as follows: to steal, to kill and to destroy (John 10:10). When he wants to steal from, kill or destroy a family/a family member, one of the tools he employs is sibling rivalry. Friend, sibling rivalry is not a small thing, if left unchecked; it has the potential to truncate destinies as we will see shortly. The first thing I want you to know is, when there is rivalry between siblings, everyone suffers. The siblings involved suffers, their parents – father and mother suffers, in some extreme cases, the children of the siblings involved in rivalry suffers.

In Genesis 4:1-15, we find the first instance of sibling rivalry in the world. Two brothers, Cain and Abel, brought an offering to God. God accepted Abel’s offering and rejected Cain’s offering. The bible records that: “And Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell” (Genesis 4:5). Friend, why are you wroth and why has your countenance fallen? Is it because a sister is getting married soon and you are still single? Is it because God bought that family a house and He is yet to buy you a house? Because Abel’s offering was accepted and Cain’s offering was not, Cain got angry at Abel. The question is this, is it the fault of Abel that God accepted his offering and rejected his brother’s offering? Friend, do not get angry at that fellow because God is blessing him or her, instead ask the Lord to bless you too. Besides, God has not forgotten you. You will testify soon. Cain became angry and he killed Abel. Genesis 4:8 says, “And Cain talked with Abel his brother: and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother, and slew him.” Because of Cain’s action, he was cursed and banished from the presence of the Lord.

The rivalry between Cain and Abel led to the death of Abel. If sibling rivalry is left unchecked, it can lead to loss of lives. The destiny of Abel was truncated courtesy of the rivalry between him and his brother. Not only that, their rivalry brought untold pains and sorrow to their parents. Adam and Eve lost Abel forever. Cain too suffered because he received a curse. Cain’s children also suffered from the curse that was placed on their father. If the ground fails to yield her strength to Cain, how will Cain feed his wife and children? As you can see, everyone – father, mother, siblings, sibling’s children, etc, suffers when there is sibling rivalry. Do you know ministry also suffers and at times truncated as a result of sibling rivalry? By God’s grace we will look into that soon but in the mean time, it is obvious there is a need to raise prayers for families. Families are the fabric of our nation, if sibling rivalry continues to thrive in them; our nations will continue to suffer.

PRAYER POINT: Father, please put an end to sibling rivalry in our families.

Bro Samuel | Reaching the world for Jesus.