Skip to main content

Approaching Conflict

Deuteronomy 31:6
“Be strong and of good courage, do not fear nor be afraid of them; for the LORD your God, He is the One who goes with you. He will not leave you nor forsake you.”
People will always disappoint us. It does not matter our relationship or our position, our world is so terribly fallen that we as people are bound to fail one another. This does not give us the right to disregard them because in the moment of disappointment we oftentimes forget that we have been on the giving side also. Uganda has allowed me to realize that my teammates are not perfect and that ministry truly does start in the home. It is so easy to walk away from conflict and allow bitterness to harbor in our hearts but let us not forget that what we hide in our hearts will soon be revealed through our actions. In turn, our relationship with the Lord suffers and our hearts become hardened towards those around us. Christ has called us to love others the way He has loved us and when we allow the pride of our flesh to whisper into our hearts that we are entitled to our self-pity or our anger, we are only deceiving ourselves. Christ was more than entitled to His feelings when He was beaten, bruised, and sent to die on the cross, but in humble submission, He remained faithful to His Father’s will for His life of sacrifice. Why? Because the Lord knew that we were in desperate need of a Savior who on our behalf could wash us with His cleansing blood, taking away the sins which we are not capable of overcoming on our own. Therefore, we no longer have to hide in fear of confrontation, we no longer have to be afraid in the midst of those who have wronged us because it is no longer our battle, it is the battle of He who remains victorious. So let us be quick to keep short accounts because even the midst of the most difficult confrontation, our Lord is there and as Deuteronomy 31:6 says, “He will never leave us nor forsake us.” 

Application
Today, I will approach my teammate who has wronged me in sincere forgiveness. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Off Balance

1 Corinthians 12:14-15 “ Even so the body is not made up of one part but of many. Now if the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being part of the body.” Simply spoken, even when we feel as though we do not belong, that does not mean we are allowed to quit. Each one of us has a vitally important role in the body of Christ, just as the foot plays a vitally important role to the body. Without the foot, the body would be off balance and we would not be able to walk. Without the ability to walk, how would the will of God be fulfilled? It wouldn’t. Similarly, we must be willing to submit to the calling the Lord has placed on our lives without being quick to reject it. His plan is perfect, and even if it is something we are not accustomed to, if it is in His will, it will pan out for our good and His glory. I despised the majority of my time as a nurses aide, and looking back, I realize now that I was relying on stre...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Remedy

1 Timothy 4:8 “For bodily exercise profits a little, but godliness is profitable for all things, having promise of the life that now is and of that which is to come.” To be disciplined in exercising our physical bodies, we must push ourselves everyday to do more, to be better. We must endure the pain that follows if we want to remain fit but after a while, it becomes routine and though the pain might still be evident, it is no longer bothersome. It becomes so routine that it feels odd when we do not do it, as if we are breaking a law that we ourselves have put in place. In the same way, we must exercise our faith in the Lord on a daily basis to remain in His will for our lives. Our Father strives to have that personal relationship with us, but like any earthly relationship, it takes effort; it takes prayer, reading, and listening to what the Father is conveying to us. Though exercising our physical bodies may give us relief for a short while, spending quality time with the Lord is...
Post a Comment
Read more

Vertical Identity

Psalms 139:13-14 “For You formed my inward parts; You covered me in my mother’s womb. I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; marvelous are Your works, and that my soul knows very well.” It is so easy to get caught up in the lies of the enemy who whispers in my ear that I am not good enough. It is so easy to look to the left and to the right at my sisters in Christ and compare myself to their seeming flawlessness, forgetting that Jesus died for their sins, too. Sure, I am louder and more outspoken than most, but this by no means indicates that the Lord loves me any less because He created me to be that way. It is only when I come to accept these aspects about myself that I consider to be so detrimental that the Lord can use them for His glory and my good. Does this mean that I will assume perfection? Absolutely not, but it does mean that I no longer have to be a slave to self-hatred. It means that I no longer have to rely on horizontal approval when my identity...
Post a Comment
Read more