Our devotion this week, Getting It Right With Others, was provided by Life.Church and is available on the YouVersion Bible app.
Why do we fear conflict?
As we learned yesterday, conflict is unavoidable. So, why are we so afraid of it? Here are a few reasons we tend to fear conflict:
1. It makes us uncomfortable. Ultimately, conflict just isn’t fun. When we sense that something isn’t right, we know we need to do something about it, but sometimes we try to hide our feelings to avoid conflict.
2. It makes us feel out of control. When we experience conflict, we feel like we’re no longer in control of our lives. It’s the same reason we prefer to send a text instead of talking on the phone—we like to be in control of the conversation and the situation.
3. We’re not obeying God. Sometimes we fear conflict because we’re not doing what God wants us to do. When we trust God, we know that He wants our relationships to be in the right place. When we choose to avoid conflict and allow it to poison us, we’re hurting relationships that God wants us to make right.
Now that we know why we fear conflict, we can start to overcome it. God is bigger than your fears, and fear is not from God. So, when you’re worried about conflict, pray about it. Ask God to give you wisdom and to give you the right words to heal that broken relationship. Tomorrow, we’ll find out how conflict can affect our relationship with God.
Read Philippians 2:4.
4 not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.
Read James 1:19-21.
19 My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, 20 because human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires. 21 Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you.
Read 2 Timothy 1:7.
7 For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline.
Read James 1:5.
5 If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.
