12 Bible Verses about Rivalry

Now a controversy sprang up among them as to which of them might be the greatest. But Jesus, as He knew that the controversy was going on in their hearts, took a little child and had it stand by His side. Then He said to them, "Whoever welcomes this little child on my account is welcoming me, and whoever welcomes me is welcoming Him who sent me; for the one who is lowliest among you all is really great."

Just at that moment the disciples came up and asked Jesus, "Who then is greatest in the kingdom of heaven?" And He called a little child to Him, and had him stand in the midst of them, and said: "I solemnly say to you, unless you turn and become like little children, you can never get into the kingdom of heaven at all.read more.
So then, whoever becomes as lowly as this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven,

But they had nothing to say, for they had discussed with one another which of them was to be the greatest. So He sat down and called the Twelve to Him and said, "If anyone wants to be the first, he must be the last of all and the servant of all." Then He took a little child and had him stand in the midst of them; then He took him in His arms, and said to them,read more.
"Whoever, as a disciple of mine, welcomes one little child like this, welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me, welcomes not merely me but Him who sent me."

Then the mother of Zebedee's sons came up to Him with her sons, kneeling to Him and asking a favor of Him. And He asked her, "What do you want?" She answered Him, "Give orders that these two sons of mine may sit one at your right and one at your left in your kingdom." But Jesus answered, "You do not realize what you are asking for. Can you drink the cup that I am about to drink?" They answered, "Yes, we can."read more.
He said to them, "You will drink the cup that I am to drink, but seats at my right and at my left are not mine to give, but they will be given to those for whom they have been prepared by my Father." When the other ten heard of it, they were indignant at the two brothers.

And Zebedee's two sons, James and John, came up to Him and said, "Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask." He asked them, "What do you want me to do for you?" They answered Him, "Grant us to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your splendor."read more.
Jesus said to them, "You do not realize what you are asking for. Can you drink the cup that I am drinking, or endure the baptism of agony that I am to endure?" They answered Him, "We can." Jesus said to them, "Yes, the cup that I am drinking you will have to drink, and the baptism of agony that I am enduring you will have to endure, but seats at my right and at my left are not mine to give, but they will be given to those for whom they have been prepared." When the other ten heard of it, they were at first very indignant at James and John.

But as for you, you must not seek for others to call you 'Teacher,' for you have but one who is 'Teacher,' and you are all brothers. And you must not call anyone on earth 'father,' for the Heavenly One is your Father. And you must not be called 'leaders,' for you have only one Leader, and that is Christ.read more.
Whoever is greatest among you must be your servant.

for you are still unspiritual. For when there are still jealousy and wrangling among you, are you not still unspiritual and living by a human standard? For when one says, "I belong to Paul's party," and another, "I belong to Apollos' party," are you not acting as mere human creatures?

I mean this, that one of you says, "I belong to Paul's party," another, "And I belong to Apollos' party," another, "And I belong to Cephas' party," another, "And I belong to Christ's party." Christ has been parceled out by you! It was not Paul who was crucified for you, was it? You were not baptized in Paul's name, were you?

For all of you are sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For all of you who have been baptized into union with Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is no room for Jew or Greek, no room for slave or freeman, no room for male or female, for you are all one through union with Christ Jesus.

Then Jesus called them to Him, and said to them, "You know that those who are supposed to rule the heathen lord it over them, and their great men rule as despots over them; but this is not to be the case among you. Whoever wants to be great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to hold the first positions among you must be everybody's slave.read more.
For the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve, and to give His life a ransom price to set many free."

But Jesus called them to Him and said, "You know that the rulers of the heathen lord it over them, and their great men rule as despots over them. It is not to be so among you, but whoever wants to be great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to hold first position among you must be your slave,read more.
just as the Son of Man has come, not to be served but to serve, and to give His life a ransom price to set many free."

Some, indeed, are actually preaching Christ because they are moved by jealousy and partisanship, but others are doing so from the motive of good will; the latter, indeed, are doing so from love to me, for they know that I am providentially put here to defend the good news; the former are preaching Christ from the motive of rivalry, not in sincerity, supposing that this is making it harder for me to bear my imprisonment.read more.
What difference then does it make? In one way or another, whether in pretense or in sincerity, Christ is being preached, and that is the thing that makes me glad; yes, more too, I will continue to be glad of it,