Article September 25, 2017 Issue

A right sense of ownership resolves conflict

Nancy Mullen

The question of who owns what tends to stir up conflict. Whether it’s siblings fighting over a toy, ranchers in a legal battle over water rights, or nations warring to control a strip of land, possession of something and the rights that go with it are all too often the source of contention.

Yet the Bible tells us in many passages that everything belongs to God. “All that is in the heaven and in the earth is thine,” declares First Chronicles 29:11. “Every beast of the forest is mine, and the cattle upon a thousand hills.…. for the world is mine, and the fulness thereof,” says Psalms 50, verses 10 and 12.

So, if God owns everything, what can we do when someone challenges our right to possess something we’ve gained by honest means? I had an experience some time ago that is a modest example of how prayer based on the spiritual understanding of God and His laws can bring about a just and satisfying resolution to a conflict about ownership.

Send a comment to the editors

NEXT IN THIS ISSUE

Article

A Christly defense against evil