Beloved,
do not imitate what is evil, but what is good. The one who does good is of God;
the one who does evil has not seen God.
3 John 1:11
Don’t lose it!
Have you ever noticed how easy it
is to take on the emotional level of someone you are speaking with? This is especially dangerous in conflict when
the other person is angry and out of control.
Even though we have good intentions, sometimes when we get in a
conflict, we lose our resolve. We may
get caught up in what the other person is saying about us or accusing us of and
we may begin to act just like they are.
That is what John is warning us about in this verse. …do not imitate
what is evil, but what is good. Be imitators of good, keep your head about you, respond
like Jesus would.
Focus on the positive
As human beings we are pretty much negative by nature. A lot of times, instead of seeing the good, we only see the bad. It is hard to focus on the positive when you are in the middle of a conflict with another person. We get defensive and selfish. We have our point of view and we want others to see it our way. We can become prideful; much like Diotrephes was in our devotional yesterday.
As human beings we are pretty much negative by nature. A lot of times, instead of seeing the good, we only see the bad. It is hard to focus on the positive when you are in the middle of a conflict with another person. We get defensive and selfish. We have our point of view and we want others to see it our way. We can become prideful; much like Diotrephes was in our devotional yesterday.
Being positive when you have a
conflict means not using personal terms like “you never” or “you always.” It means instead of being mean, be kind. Instead of getting angry, be loving. Instead of using harsh words, use gentle
ones. While this is much easier said
than done, God knows how hard this is for us and he provides plenty of
guidelines for us such as Proverbs 15:1,
“A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.” (NIV)
As Christians we are most like
God when we are reconciling relationships.
How do you reconcile a relationship?
Here are some action steps you can take:
- Schedule
a peace conference with someone you are having a conflict with.
- Resolve
to put Jesus first in your relationships.
- The
next time you have a conflict with someone, write the problem down on a
piece of paper so you won’t forget what it is and get side tracked.
- Say a
positive word to and think a positive thought for a person you have a
conflict with.
Life should be like a photograph; we should be turning NEGATIVES into
POSITIVES. Very often we allow bad
circumstances to control our life.
Circumstances are like a feather mattress. If you get underneath them you will
suffocate. But, if you stay on top of
them, you can rest easy. An unknown
author wrote a humorous poem that gives pretty good advice along these lines:
As
you travel down life’s pathway,
Whatever be your goal,
Keep your eye upon the doughnut,
And not upon the hole.
Whatever be your goal,
Keep your eye upon the doughnut,
And not upon the hole.
Satan
likes to tempt us and put us in situations that might cause us to stumble. He wants us to fail and be imitators of
evil. God will sustain us. He knows our weaknesses. He created us. He died for us because He knows our weaknesses
and in our weakness, His strength is perfect.
Call on Him to get you through a difficult time dealing with
conflict. He will carry you through to
the other side.
Scripture to Claim:
But
he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in
weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so
that Christ’s power may rest on me. 2
Corinthians 12:9
