We will have conflicts for as long as we have breath. But as Bros. Randy and Jan have pointed out, knowing the three types of conflicts will lessen its frequency in our lives and help us choose our “battles”.
1. Conflicts that we shouldn’t avoid. When a CG member gets addicted to alcohol or when a sibling is disrespectful to our parents, we have to lovingly tell them about their mistakes. Conflicts that correct the people we love are conflicts that we should face.
2. Conflicts that we can’t avoid. For certain, there’ll be people who will not understand our faith and will mock us for being Christians or attack us with no reason. Conflicts with these people can’t be avoided and there’s only one thing we can do about it – be still and know that God will fight for you (Ex 14:14).
3. Conflicts that we should avoid. Conflicts that don’t fall under the first two categories are conflicts that will just rob us of our joy and energy. It is not easy to avoid such conflicts, so our Feast builders gave us two of four strategies to be a peacemaker (the last two strategies will be discussed next week so watch out for it!) – Be Faithful and Be Forbearing. Being faithful in the small things will help us to be faithful in the big things, while being forbearing allows us to be patient with one another. Being forbearing means understanding that we are all wired differently and that there are deeper reasons why people do the things they do, therefore, we should never be judgmental and make allowance for each others’ faults (Col 3:13).
By Megann Plaza
Source Bulletin
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