Exodus 22:6

But what restitution can one make who scatters the firebrands of error, or the coals of lasciviousness, and sets people's souls ablaze with the fire of hell? The guilt is beyond estimate, and the result is irretrievable. If such an offender is forgiven, what grief it will cause him looking back, since he cannot undo the mischief he has done!

A bad example may kindle a flame which years of reformed character cannot quench. To burn people's food is bad enough, but how much worse to destroy the soul! It may be useful for us to reflect to what extent we may have been guilty in the past, and to inquire whether, even in the present, there may not be evil in us that has a tendency to bring damage to the souls of our relatives, friends, or neighbors.

The fire of strife is a terrible evil when it breaks out in a Christian church. Where converts were multiplied, and God was glorified, jealousy and envy do the devil’s work most effectively. Where the golden grain was being stored, to reward the toil of the great Boaz, the fire of enmity comes in and leaves little else but smoke and a heap of blackness.

Woe to those by whom offences come. May they never come through us, for although we cannot make restitution, we shall certainly be the chief sufferers if we are the chief offenders. Those who feed the fire deserve just censure, but the one who first kindles it is most to blame.

Discord usually first takes hold among the thorns; it is nurtured among the hypocrites and false professors in the church, and away it goes among the righteous, blown by the winds of hell, and no one knows where it may end. O Lord and giver of peace, make us peacemakers, and never let us aid and abet the people of strife, or even unintentionally cause the least division among Your people.