Fighting among brothers and sisters has always been a problem. The first story about siblings in Scripture tells of Cain becoming so angry with his brother that he killed him. Before you get too excited with this option, remember that God got really ticked off at Cain.

Try these seven tips on how to keep from pummeling your siblings.

1. Fight fair. Fighting fair means never physically or verbally attacking your brother or sister. Fight, but limit your conflict to the specific issue at hand.

2. Vent your anger in positive ways. Give yourself some time to cool off and think of alternative ways of handling the dilemma. Find an outlet for your anger: take a walk, listen to your favorite Spotify playlist, etc.

3. Set up rules to protect your privacy. The biggest cause of fights is the invasion of personal privacy. Set up ?Don?t you dare touch? zones in your closets and drawers. Don?t borrow anything without permission.

4. Choose your battles wisely. I?ve seen siblings almost start World War III over the dumbest things: ?But Mom, he keeps staring at me!? ?Don?t you dare cross this line!? Mature teenagers learn to avoid senseless battles.

5. Keep your parents out of it. Consult your parents only when you both agree to do so because you can?t settle the dispute any other way. This will not only help you get along better with your brothers and sisters but also save your parents money on Pepto Bismol bills.

6. Treat your brothers and sisters like you would treat Jesus. Jesus told us as we treat others, so we treat Him. When we start looking at our siblings as Christ, it changes our perspective?and how we treat them.

7. Pray for your brothers and sisters. Prayer connects you to divine power that can help you overcome conflicts that otherwise seem impossible. It also purifies you and makes you easier to get along with.

Liking yourself isn?t something you can buy. Other people can?t make you happy about and able to appreciate yourself. That deep-down-inside-the-skin feeling that you are worth a lot comes only by cultivating inner qualities. Once you understand this, you can develop these ingredients to like yourself.

1. Kindness. Too few people have discovered this ingredient for liking ourselves. Everyone can express kindness. Kindness means you smile. Kindness means you sit next to the new redhead from Arkansas when you?d rather eat lunch with ?the gang.? Kindness means listening to your Aunt Maggie tell the same story for the trillionth time. Kindness means chuckling at your dad?s stale joke for the trillionth time. It?s keeping a secret, passing on a compliment, honoring your word. The better we treat others, the more we like ourselves. Look for ways to show kindness and notice how you feel about yourself.

2. Integrity. Four high school boys, afflicted with spring fever, skipped morning classes. After lunch, they reported to the teacher that their car had had a flat tire. Much to their relief, she smiled and said: ?Well, you missed a test this morning, so take seats apart from one another and get out your notebooks.?

Still smiling, she waited for them to settle down. Then she said, ?First question: Which tire was flat??

Dishonesty always comes back to sting us. Even if no one discovers the truth, you like yourself less when you compromise what is right. You can read every book on self-esteem, but if you are dishonest, you have no right to feel good about yourself. And I promise, you won?t. Integrity is the cornerstone of liking yourself.

It?s not what we do or whom we know that makes us like ourselves. Rather, it?s what we are. Feeling good about yourself goes deeper than just doing?it comes from being.

3. Productivity. One of the seven deadly sins in the Middle Ages was laziness. It?s hard to feel good about yourself when your biggest accomplishment for the week was guzzling a six-pack of Squirt and devouring a bag of Cheetos. But it?s hard not to feel good about yourself when you look at the acre of lawn you mowed or you finish the last sentence of a term paper. Being productive builds self-esteem.

 The great plan of redemption results in fully bringing back the world into God?s favor. All that was lost by sin is restored. Not only man but the earth is redeemed, to be the eternal abode of the obedient. For six thousand years Satan has struggled to maintain possession of the earth. Now God?s original purpose in its creation is accomplished. ?The saints of the Most High shall take the kingdom, and possess the kingdom forever, even forever and ever.? Daniel 7:18.

?From the rising of the sun unto the going down of the same the Lord?s name is to be praised.? Psalm 113:3. ?In that day shall there be one Lord, and His name one.? ?And Jehovah shall be king over all the earth.? Zechariah 14:9. Says the Scripture, ?Forever, O Lord, Thy word is settled in heaven.? ?All His commandments are sure. They stand fast forever and ever.? Psalm 119:89; 111:7, 8. The sacred statutes which Satan has hated and sought to destroy, will be honored throughout a sinless universe. And ?as the earth bringeth forth her bud, and as the garden causeth the things that are sown in it to spring forth; so the Lord God will cause righteousness and praise to spring forth before all nations.? Isaiah 61:11.?Patriarchs and Prophets, p. 342.

Despite the attacks of the enemy, God?s work on Earth will come to a glorious climax. The gospel will be preached to ?every nation, tribe, tongue, and people? (Revelation 14:6). The great controversy between Christ and Satan will end with Christ completely defeating the powers of hell. God?s kingdom will triumph over evil, and sin will be eradicated forever from the universe.

Revelation 11 begins with Satan?s attempt to destroy the Christian faith through the French Revolution and eradicate belief in God. The chapter ends with the triumph of God?s kingdom over the principalities and powers of evil. Revelation 11 is an encouragement to all who go through fiery trials and experience opposition for the cause of Christ. Although according to Revelation, God?s faithful people will once again experience fierce opposition, vicious ridicule, and unjust persecution, it also promises that they will ultimately triumph when Jesus Christ gloriously returns.

Righteousness triumphs. Truth wins.

The process of dying to self includes admitting and confessing our sins to God. Proverbs 28:13 says, ?Whoever conceals their sins does not prosper, but the one who confesses and renounces them finds mercy.? Confessing our sins means that we state what our sins are, we are sorry for them, we are willing to renounce them or give them up, and we are willing to be transformed by God. Then we really should accept forgiveness?because it is a promise. First John 1:9 says, ?If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.?

People may not forgive us for things we have done even if we ask forgiveness, but God always forgives. And God instantly accepts us when we confess our sins. Christ?s death was not just for me personally, but it is a universal reconciliation.

Personally, I have found a great way to start the day with God. I read a devotional entry, the quarterly Bible lesson study, and the Bible and then pray with God about the day and prayer requests others may have. Many times, I notice that something I read applies to a situation I face later in the day. Another good way to see how God is with us is to take some quiet time away from our regular routine. This is a good ?filter? from the storms of life that helps to keep us fresh in our relationship with Jesus.

Sometimes God uses one event to encourage two people. Many years ago, my grandmother was in great tooth pain but lacked money to fix the issue. Thankfully, I was able to find a low-cost dental place near her. As we pulled up and stopped in front of the door, she told me she was anxious, and I took her hand and said, ?Then let?s have a prayer first.? Next, we walked to the counter to check in and then took our seats. Just then a golden lab dog walked around the corner over to her and set his head on her lap as she giggled. He left his head there as though he knew she was anxious and needing soothing. I felt relieved, too, that God helped ease my grandmother?s anxiety.

 Personally, I have found a great way to start the day with God. I read a devotional entry, the quarterly Bible lesson study, and the Bible and then pray with God about the day and prayer requests others may have. Many times, I notice that something I read applies to a situation I face later in the day. Another good way to see how God is with us is to take some quiet time away from our regular routine. This is a good ?filter? from the storms of life that helps to keep us fresh in our relationship with Jesus.

Sometimes God uses one event to encourage two people. Many years ago, my grandmother was in great tooth pain but lacked money to fix the issue. Thankfully, I was able to find a low-cost dental place near her. As we pulled up and stopped in front of the door, she told me she was anxious, and I took her hand and said, ?Then let?s have a prayer first.? Next, we walked to the counter to check in and then took our seats. Just then a golden lab dog walked around the corner over to her and set his head on her lap as she giggled. He left his head there as though he knew she was anxious and needing soothing. I felt relieved, too, that God helped ease my grandmother?s anxiety.

If our life were described as a picture puzzle, then we could only see a few pieces at a time and we need to trust that God is working to complete the whole puzzle. Joseph was able to view a few pieces in advance, but he didn?t know what they meant. God gave him a dream in Genesis 37:7, ?We were binding sheaves of grain out in the field when suddenly my sheaf rose and stood upright, while your sheaves gathered around mine and bowed down to it.?

Joseph learned he really had to trust God because his life suddenly took a turn for the worse as those dreams he shared were the ?last straw? in the minds of his brothers and soon they sold him to Ishmaelites. A little later in the story we see the key phrase ?The Lord was with,? and we are encouraged that we, too, can hold on to the I am as we go through life. It is in Genesis 39:2?4, ?The Lord was with Joseph so that he prospered, and he lived in the house of his Egyptian master. When his master saw that the Lord was with him and that the Lord gave him success in everything he did, Joseph found favor in his eyes and became his attendant. Potiphar put him in charge of his household, and he entrusted to his care everything he owned.? Notice that the key phrase is listed twice. What a comfort to know that God is with us as we go about our lives and serve Him.

Most Americans, including the majority of both Christian and secular-minded people, are unaware of Christian Reconstructionism, and they certainly are not aware of the profound influence that this political philosophy has had on the Religious Right?s thinking in the United States. But I can assure you that this philosophy is perfectly suited to bring about the final crisis described both by Revelation and Ellen White. Speaking of Christian Reconstruction in the introduction to her book [Building God?s Kingdom: Inside the World of Christian Reconstruction, Julie] Ingersoll states, ?Their worldview requires a wholesale overturning of authority and political order. And it secures for them continued influence on the broader conservative Christian subculture.?

The overturning of what authority and what political order?

The answer is the American system of government?its democracy, with the freedoms that are guaranteed by the Constitution. Reconstructionists envision a completely different form of government from that which currently exists in our country. And second, Ingersoll says that Reconstructionism ?secures for them [the Reconstructionists] continued influence on the broader conservative Christian subculture??that is, the Religious Right that is so insistent on bringing America back to God. As I said earlier, bringing America back to God is a good thing if we mean evangelism that influences people to accept Jesus as their Savior. But that is not what Christian Reconstructionists have in mind.

All heaven was waiting the hour of triumph when Jesus should ascend to His Father. Angels came to receive the King of glory and to escort Him triumphantly to heaven. After Jesus had blessed His disciples, He was parted from them and taken up. And as He led the way upward, the multitude of captives who were raised at His resurrection followed. A multitude of the heavenly host were in attendance, while in heaven an innumerable company of angels awaited His coming.

As they ascended to the Holy City, the angels who escorted Jesus cried out, "Lift up your heads, O ye gates; and be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall come in." The angels in the city cried out with rapture, "Who is this King of glory?" The escorting angels answered in triumph, "The Lord strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle!" . . . And the heavenly train passed into the city of God.

Then all the heavenly host surrounded their majestic Commander, and with the deepest adoration bowed before Him and cast their glittering crowns at His feet. And then they touched their golden harps, and in sweet, melodious strains filled all heaven with rich music and songs to the Lamb who was slain, yet lives again in majesty and glory.

Jesus didn't just know the Scriptures; He depended on them. He spoke of them not merely as something beneficial, but as something vital to life itself. When weariness and hunger plagued Him in the wilderness and the devil enshrouded Him in clouds of perplexity and temptation, Jesus did not consult His feelings. He did not consult His reason, or His knowledge, or His heart. There was only one thing He knew He could trust. And so He answered the devil not with His own words or thoughts, but with the words of Scripture.

When Jesus was pushed to the brink, he found victory by relying on the divine inspiration of God's Word. So it is with us. We must have a power and wisdom greater than our own to navigate the storms and temptations of daily life. We can find this power and wisdom only in God's Word.

What if,? three men asked each other, ?travelers at any hotel in the United States could find a Bible, if they wanted one?? John Nicholson, Samuel Hill, and William Knight were salesmen, and they knew what it was like to drag into yet another hotel after a hard day pounding the pavement, wanting something to do or something to read. ?Bibles should be available for anyone who wants to read one,? they said. And so Gideon International, a Christian professional organization dedicated to personal evangelism, determined to make Bibles available for travelers wherever they stayed. They chose the name Gideon for they thought of themselves as Gideons?willing to do what­ever God asked of them. The wonder and blessing of the Bible is how the Holy Spirit speaks through it to give you exactly what you need when you need it.

Check out a few psalms, for David?s writing is as real as it gets. He was a man on the run when he wrote ?How many are my foes!? (Ps. 3:1) and ?when I am afraid, I will trust in you,? (Ps. 56:3). Guilt weighed heavy on him when he wrote ?Create in me a clean heart . . . do not cast me from your presence? (Ps. 51:10, 11), and he must have been happy writing Psalm 103 with its theme of ?Praise the Lord!? Then go to the New Testament. Meet Jesus?again?in the Gospels. Thrill to Luke?s stories of the early Christian church. Hear the courage and triumph in Paul?s voice as he faces death (2 Timothy 4:6-8). Open your Bible. Read it every day. Ask God to help it speak to you.