Intro

All growing, developing relationships will eventually experience conflict. Why do I say that? Am I just a pessimist? No! I’m just old enough to have experienced this reality and we’re all flawed human beings who will eventually either hurt or be hurt by others. Some of you might think, “That only happens to people who do not have a relationship with Jesus but once people become followers of Jesus, we can avoid conflict.” I wish that were true, but it’s not. Why not? Look at the bible. It is filled with stories of conflict between people who claim to follow God. Why is that? Even though we receive a new identity as a child of God when we put our faith in Jesus, we are still learning how to live out that new identity. We won’t get it all figured out in this life which means those remnants of our old life, our old identity, and all its baggage still raise their ugly head resulting in interpersonal conflict. Proverbs provides a great deal of wisdom regarding conflict and Jesus taught us how to handle our conflicts. 

Questions for Reflection:

• Are you carrying any resentment towards others? Do you have unresolved conflict? Ask Jesus to forgive you for your part in the conflict. Name the resentment you are carrying. Now ask Jesus to forgive you for the resentment you are carrying and the pain you have caused others.
• Begin the process of forgiveness by giving the offense that you experienced to Jesus. Ask Jesus to work in the offender’s life and to bring healing to both of you.  
• If you have a conflicted relationship that you want to see healed but don’t know what to do, contact a Willingdon pastor for help.