12 Bible Verses about Rivalry

Now there arose a dispute among them, which of them was to be the greatest. And Jesus, knowing the reasoning that was in their hearts, took a young child and made him stand by His side and said to them, "Whoever for my sake receives this little child, receives me; and whoever receives me, receives Him who sent me. For the lowliest among you all--he is the greatest."

Just then the disciples came to Jesus and asked, "Who ranks higher than others in the Kingdom of the Heavens?" So He called a young child to Him, and, bidding him stand in the midst of them, said, "In solemn truth I tell you that unless you turn and become like little children, you will in no case be admitted into the Kingdom of the Heavens.read more.
Whoever therefore shall humble himself as this young child, he it is who is superior to others in the Kingdom of the Heavens.

But they remained silent; for on the way they had debated with one another who was the chief of them. Then sitting down He called the Twelve, and said to them, "If any one wishes to be first, he must be last of all and servant of all." And taking a young child He made him stand in their midst, then threw His arms round him and said,read more.
"Whoever for my sake receives one such young child as this, receives me; and whoever receives me, receives not so much me as Him who sent me."

Then the mother of the sons of Zabdi came to Him with her sons, and knelt before Him to make a request of Him. "What is it you desire?" He asked. "Command," she replied, "that these my two sons may sit one at your right hand and one at your left in your Kingdom." "None of you know what you are asking for," said Jesus; "can you drink out of the cup from which I am about to drink?" "We can," they replied.read more.
"You shall drink out of my cup," He said, "but a seat at my right hand or at my left it is not for me to allot, but it belongs to those for whom it has been prepared by my Father." The other ten heard of this, and their indignation was aroused against the two brothers.

Then James and John, the sons of Zabdi, came up to Him and said, "Rabbi, we wish you would grant us whatever request we make of you." "What would you have me do for you?" He asked. "Allow us," they replied, "to sit one at your right hand and the other at your left hand, in your glory."read more.
"You know not," said He, "what you are asking. Are you able to drink out of the cup from which I am to drink, or to be baptized with the baptism with which I am to be baptized?" "We are able," they replied. "Out of the cup," said Jesus, "from which I am to drink you shall drink, and with the baptism with which I am to be baptized you shall be baptized; but as to sitting at my right hand or at my left, that is not mine to give: it will be for those for whom it is reserved." The other ten, hearing of it, were at first highly indignant with James and John.

"As for you, do not accept the title of 'Rabbi,' for one alone is your Teacher, and you are all brothers. And call no one on earth your Father, for One alone is your Father--the Heavenly Father. And do not accept the name of 'leader,' for your Leader is one alone--the Christ.read more.
He who is the greatest among you shall be your servant;

you are still unspiritual. For so long as jealousy and strife continue among you, can it be denied that you are unspiritual and are living and acting like mere men of the world? For when some one says, "I belong to Paul," and another says, "I belong to Apollos," is not this the way men of the world speak?

What I mean is that each of you is a partisan. One man says "I belong to Paul;" another "I belong to Apollos;" a third "I belong to Peter;" a fourth "I belong to Christ." Is the Christ in fragments? Is it Paul who was crucified on your behalf? Or were you baptized to be Paul's adherents?

You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus; for all of you who have been baptized into Christ, have clothed yourselves with Christ. In Him the distinctions between Jew and Gentile, slave and free man, male and female, disappear; you are all one in Christ Jesus.

Jesus, however, called them to Him and said to them, "You are aware how those who are deemed rulers among the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great men make them feel their authority; but it is not to be so among you. No, whoever desires to be great among you must be your servant; and whoever desires to be first among you must be the bondservant of all.read more.
For the Son of Man also did not come to be waited upon, but to wait on others, and to give His life as the redemption-price for a multitude of people."

But Jesus called them to Him, and said, "You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great men exercise authority over them. Not so shall it be among you; but whoever desires to be great among you shall be your servant, and whoever desires to be first among you shall be your bondservant;read more.
just as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give His life as the redemption-price for many."

Some indeed actually preach Christ out of envy and contentiousness but there are also others who do it from good will. These latter preach Him from love to me, knowing that I am here for the defence of the Good News; while the others proclaim Him from motives of rivalry, and insincerely, supposing that by this they are embittering my imprisonment.read more.
What does it matter, however? In any case Christ is preached--either perversely or in honest truth; and in that I rejoice, yes, and will rejoice.