In order to resolve conflict, do these: 1) Focus on the person’s behaviour and stay away from remarks about their character. Saying, ‘It was unacceptable for you to open my post’ is better than ‘I can’t believe you were so nosy!’ 2) Try to understand the other person’s behaviour instead of justifying your own. This will require active listening. Listening validates the other person’s feelings and provides them with the motivation to listen to you. ‘The Lord God has given Me the tongue of the learned, that I should know how to speak a word in season to him who is weary. He awakens Me morning by morning, He awakens My ear to hear as the learned. The Lord God has opened My ear’ (Isaiah 50:4-5 NKJV). 3) Resolve one problem at a time. Don’t muddy the conversation with unrelated matters between you. Discuss them later. 4) Agree on future behaviour in case the situation occurs again. Strife is stressful, and it’s to your benefit to restrict it. You cannot remove conflicts entirely because everybody is unique, with different upbringings, ways of communicating, and desires. But you can face the problems, resolve them, and mature as a result. ‘How wonderful and pleasant it is when brothers live together in harmony! For harmony is as precious as the anointing oil that was poured over Aaron’s head, that ran down his beard and onto the border of his robe. Harmony is as refreshing as the dew from Mount Hermon that falls on the mountains of Zion. And there the Lord has pronounced his blessing’ (Psalm 133:1-3 NLT). If you want to have peace and walk in God’s blessing, work for reconciliation.

© 2024. Written by Bob and Debby Gass. Used by permission under licence from UCB International.