ARE YOU PERFECT?
How To Respond To Conflict The Way Jesus Did
I have seen churches split, friendships fail, and marriages fall apart over the smallest offenses. Small offences, if not dealt with, will collect other offenses until things are beyond repair. One side does something nasty; the other responds in kind, which merits another bad response or requires some form of retaliation. Soon we have full-blown “Israeli-Palestinian style conflict” right in our midst. Someone must stop this downward spiral from happening. Whoever does this is the one who is mature and the one who will get the blessing.
Often, when an offense happens and we realize it is too small to become upset over, we embellish it, making it out to be more than it was, while looking for other reasons to add to it for good measure. The enemy is happy to supply us with a few of these himself.
It's a sobering thought, but I believe there are those among us who are almost seeking to be offended. They seize upon the first offense that comes their way, perhaps as a justification to sever a relationship. But we must remember, Jesus does not condone such actions. He asks, 'Why did you not act on My Word when the offense came? Didn’t I teach you how to respond like the Father does when someone hurts you?' This is a call to personal responsibility in conflict resolution.
Sometimes, people who do not have an offense of their own will take up the offense of another. This happens all the time in families and churches. The offended person will have the grace to bear the hurt, but those who take up their offense will not. They often lack the maturity to see it or admit it.
How do we stop this from happening? The simple answer is to become more like Jesus. When Jesus came, He was rejected by His own, but rather than rejecting them back, He found a different perspective, by looking through the Father’s eyes. He did not wait for us to love Him, but chose to love us even though we were in opposition to Him. Whenever we choose to yield to the Spirit of Christ at work within us, we will tap into His love, which we do not naturally possess. This inner grace will help us bypass our fallen nature’s need to be judgmental or vengeful. In doing this, we feel something of the Father’s heart, giving us an alternative response, which is not natural – but supernatural.
This 5 x 8 book with about a 60-pages and is available as an eBook.