Welcome to 10-minute Bible Talks, where we connect the Bible to your life and the time it takes to get to work.

I'm Jensen Holt McNair. So my kids are just reaching the point where they have begun fighting.

My youngest is only 18 months, so she doesn't really know what's going on. We're still in the,

it's kind of cute when they fight stage. But there is something hardwired into these kids.

The moment someone takes something that they believe is theirs, they fight back. Florence

loves to hit, Jude loves to scream and chase down his property. In the end, they both choose violence.

Now, that feeling that my toddlers get when someone takes something that is theirs,

when someone hurts them or turns off their TV show or says no to what they want,

the feeling to defend themselves to get back at the other person, to get what they want.

That feeling lives on well-past childhood. You and I, we live in a world that tells us to fight

for what we believe in. A world that celebrates sharp words and biting remarks. A world of

reality TV shows dedicated to addicting us to the drama of people

will never meet. Online forums pop up debating who's right, who went too far, who had the best

verbal thrashing of the night. We unfortunately live in a world where our politics and journalism

is flooded with people seeking vengeance,

insulting opponents, treating human beings as verbal punching bags. The winners of these fights are

praised. They stood up for themselves, defended themselves, came out on top. The means they used

to get there seemed to be unimportant. The other person got what they deserved. We have a

right to fight. Now, I'm going to make a hypothesis, partially based on my own life and experience,

partially based on what I see happening around me. But our cultural obsession with fighting,

with telling people to stand their ground, with praising the one who stands up for themselves,

no matter the tactics, stems from a place of fear. We're afraid of losing, afraid of being wrong,

...