Are there things in life that you can count on? Things that, without fail, seem to rear their (sometimes ugly) head at the most inconvenient times? It’s often been said that in life you can certainly count on at least two things – taxes and death, and maybe not always in that order! For me, if I’m extremely busy and feeling overwhelmed, I can almost guarantee that I’ll get at least a dozen urgent requests all at the same time. It’s just how it is!
There are other things in life that are guaranteed, and they aren’t always exactly pleasant. Since there’s not a single person in this world who is without sin (Romans 3: 23), it is logical to conclude that that disagreements and hurt in relationships -even family relationships- are guaranteed to happen. I think we can all testify to this being true.
Since this is the case, how should we, as children of God, handle such uncomfortable times? My first suggestion would be to consider these five basic teachings from Scriptures:
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We must first realize that God wants reconciliation to occur, and we must want reconciliation, as well… Matthew 5:23-24
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We must be people who seek to be peacemakers and not those who continually “stir the pot” and keep the agitation ongoing…Matthew 5:9
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We must be very slow to become angry, even when we are in difficult situations (James 1: 19-20).
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When we do become angry, that does not give us a free pass to say whatever we want or to act in any way we desire. We can sin in our responses…Ephesians 4: 26-27
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Our goal is not to drag as many people into our situation as possible. We need to first handle this directly with the person who has wronged us, or we have wronged…Matthew 18:15-17
Disagreements can be very uncomfortable; in fact, they are almost always uncomfortable. However, we can either help or hurt the situation by our attitudes and our actions. Since we will all likely find ourselves in an occasion (or multiple occasions) of disagreement and hurt during our lives, let’s all strive to make sure our attitudes and actions don’t become part of the problem. Even in these difficult moments, we must always seek to bring honor and glory to God!
