Wednesday; April 9

What is the best way to deal with people who disagree with us?  I don’t know if things have gotten more adversarial than they were in the past, but I do know they don’t seem to have gotten much better.  Maybe it just seems worse because there are so many different ways to proclaim our dislike for our adversaries, but there is no shortage of ways to tell the world who we don’t like and why we don’t like them.  Even if we don’t use names, it is pretty easy to get our point across.  Over the last few years, I believe that we have identified diversity, unfortunately, we haven’t done much positive with it.

If we are willing to look for a way to deal with our conflicts, the Bible provides a blueprint; however, it is probably not going to be a popular strategy because Jesus taught, “But I say to you who hear, love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.” (Luke 6:27-28).  Jesus was not One to advocate getting the best of our enemies, rather He continually reminds us to be kind and caring – especially to those who have problems with us.  Instead of stoking the conflicts with others, we have a responsibility to love them, bless them and pray for them.  It kind of makes you wonder how we can keep the flame of irritation lit by living like that – and, the truth of the matter is that we can’t.  If we choose to live Jesus’ way, we will naturally overcome our conflicts.

Which is more important to us:  to keep our feuds going or keep our Lord pleased?  When we follow His ways, we’ll be able to overcome our differences no matter how big or how petty they might be.

Think About It!

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