DOUG DUGGINS

Have you ever been in a heated “discussion” with someone and you had to walk away because you were afraid of what you might say? You were afraid to continue talking because you might say something that you would regret or want to take back but couldn’t. Maybe you wanted to talk to someone about some issue going on but didn’t want to risk confrontation because certain things might be said and feelings might get hurt.

Over the past couple of weeks I have had these situations come up in my life. I have had conversations that I didn’t want to have because of the issues. I was afraid that the other people had a bone to pick and were ready to give me a piece of their mind. I didn’t want to confront them about what was happening, but I did.

Don’t you know after each of these conversations there was a stronger sense of peace and unity between me and the other folks. I think it is amazing that often the conversations we fear the most are the most rewarding in the end. I think this is true for a couple of reasons:

1. God desires for believers to live in harmony.

In Acts 2 the people of the church did everything together and had everything in common. They lived in harmony. It’s a model for us to live by.

2. Resolving conflict is obedient to Christ.

Jesus commands us in Matthew 18 to work out our issues with other believers, not to let them linger. He even gives an eternal promise that if we learn to agree, then what we ask for will be given by God.

Satan would want nothing more than for believers to have bitterness towards one another because that would destroy the love between us and hinder our efforts to reach others for Christ. God’s love for us is our example of how to love others because “God is love” 1 John 4:8. God’s love drives out fear. Christ has faced the ultimate fear of eternal life separated from God in a very real place called Hell. He defeated it, not for himself but for us. If we believe this, then there is nothing in life that we should be so afraid of that it causes us to disobey what God desires for us to do.

So who do you have an issue with today? I encourage you to go to them, with love in your heart, and talk to them about the problem. Work it out. Don’t let Satan win the battle between love and bitterness.