Conflicted

-
Let’s face it; short of sequestering ourselves inside our homes (alone), we will encounter difficult people in our lives. Conflict exists, but how I deal with the people I have conflict with has been on my mind a lot lately—mainly because I don’t feel I “do” conflict or confrontation well. According to Romans 12:8, if it’s possible and as much as it depends on me, I am to live at peace with all men. The all part is the sticking point for me; I crave peace the way some around me seem to crave conflict. Their desire for conflict doesn’t excuse me from making an effort at keeping or restoring peace. I have no room in my life for returning hatred or entertaining thoughts of revenge, and the bitterness that results from harboring ill will toward another is not a result I wish to reap. In my reading, I’ve seen nothing that would excuse me for acting petty toward others even when in my flesh I would love to stoop to the same level I encounter. I John 4:20 has popped up several times lately and it makes me pause and evaluate my life each time I encounter it. The verse clearly states that if a person says he loves God but “hates his brother, he is a liar; for the one who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen” (NASB). We’re quick to say we love God—ask any Christian—but does our love for others bear this out? If hating my brother makes me a liar (translates as I don’t love God), is harboring hatred toward another person really worth the cost? God says that his commandments are not burdensome, so why should I have trouble keeping the commandment about loving my brother—especially when it is how I show my love for God (I Jn. 5:3)? Jesus loved me while I was his enemy (Rom. 5:8), so how can I do less for those who, in comparison, cost me nothing to love? In light of the fact that Jesus himself tells me to love my enemy and pray for the one who despitefully uses me (Matt. 5:44), I can’t think of anything that would excuse me from loving this way. Since my husband won’t let me lock myself away in a dark, abandoned house, I guess I have my answer about how I should deal with difficult people. If only doing it were as easy . . .

Comments

Post a Comment

Thank you for taking the time to read my blog. If you have concerns or questions, I will do my best to answer them privately. I will publish comments at my discretion publicly if they glorify God.

Popular posts from this blog

An Uncertain Affinity (2 Cor. 4:7-11; Gen. 3:16)

-
Image
Today in my devotion time, I came across a word that led me to another word. Can I say that this is my usual, lifelong problem in reading dictionary entries . . . I have a hard time stopping.  It’s a real problem. ☺ The word connected to the word I was looking up about the tabernacle was skeuos . In the Greek, this word carries the meaning “of uncertain affinity; a vessel, implement, equipment or apparatus (literal or figurative [specifically a wife as contributing to the usefulness of the husband]):--goods, sail, stuff, vessel.” I got caught immediately in the first part: “uncertain affinity.”  Uncertain means “not able to be relied on; not known or definite.” Affinity means “a spontaneous or natural liking or sympathy for someone or something.” Putting these two words together is something of an oxymoron, which in the Greek literally means “pointedly foolish” because of its seeming contradiction. How in the world can you have an affinity for something you don’t know? How...
Read more

Letting Go Is Hard (Hebrews 12:1-2)

-
I sit among boxes piling a bit higher each day as I pack my life up once again. I say again, but in the grander scheme of things I haven’t moved that often in my 33 years of married life, and since the kids were born, I have only moved three times until now. We will be renting for a while until we can find a place to land, so I am purging things much more robustly than I have ever done with any other move. Sorting through 33 years (plus some things I had before marrying) has been utterly distracting, difficult to accomplish, and slow to finish. Homes need things, and things need a home, but I am finding I have held on to far too much over the years. Letting go is hard. Stuff.  Too much stuff. Merriam-Webster defines stuff as “materials, supplies, or equipment used in various activities: such as personal property.” By this definition, we own what we need to DO something. I have done much the last five years while I have not been in the classroom daily. Pottery was the first thing ...
Read more

Under Construction (All of the Bible . . .)

-
Do you remember the logic  🧩 (or riddles or analogies or challenges—not sure what to call the kind of word puzzle I mean) of childhood past where one was required to look at a grouping of words and figure out based on their arrangement what they meant together? Something like this one below: CONSTRUCTION soul The correct way to solve it would be soul under construction . If you notice, construction is weighty, and the soul is small under the burden of change. Maybe it has seemed quiet to you lately from this quarter. It is true that I have not written in a while, but it has not been because my soul has been absent of either noise or the quiet contemplation of time spent in the Word. I have been wrestling with myself, not with New Year's resolutions but with what I know about God, with the disconnect I sometimes feel between living out truth versus what my flesh wants in all its ugliness. There is the other side of wrestling, however, when it goes on too long without acti...
Read more