'Contending' in the Bible
He called the name of the place Massah and Meribah, because of the contending of the Israelites and because of their testing the Lord, saying, "Is the Lord among us or not?"
And it cometh to pass, all the people are contending through all the tribes of Israel, saying, 'The king delivered us out of the hand of our enemies, yea, he himself delivered us out of the hand of the Philistines, and now he hath fled out of the land because of Absalom,
I will say to God, 'Do not condemn me; tell me why you are contending with me.'
If I despise the cause of my man-servant, And of my handmaid, In their contending with me,
He will not always strive with us,Nor will He keep His anger forever.
Give attention, O Jehovah, unto me, And hearken to the voice of those contending with me.
On the same day a party of Sadducees came to Him, contending that there is no resurrection. And they put this case to Him.
And on the morrow he shewed himself to them as they were contending, and compelled them to peace, saying, Ye are brethren, why do ye wrong one another?
and when Peter came up to Jerusalem, those of the circumcision were contending with him,
Then a great uproar occurred, and some of the scribes of the Pharisees’ party stood up and began to argue heatedly [in Paul’s favor], saying, “We find nothing wrong with this man; suppose a spirit or an angel has [really] spoken to him?”
For our struggle is not against flesh and blood [contending only with physical opponents], but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this [present] darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly (supernatural) places.
Only conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ so that -- whether I come and see you or whether I remain absent -- I should hear that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind, by contending side by side for the faith of the gospel,
Epaphras, who is one of you, a slave of Christ Jesus, greets you. He is always contending for you in his prayers, so that you can stand mature and fully assured in everything God wills.
The servant of the Lord must not participate in quarrels, but must be kind to everyone [even-tempered, preserving peace, and he must be], skilled in teaching, patient and tolerant when wronged.