DEVOTION – DAY 389

2 Corinthians 10:3-4 “Resolving Conflicts”

2 Cor.10:3-4 “For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine powers to demolish strongholds.”

When we face deadlocks, disagreements, and disputes with others, many people turn to common worldly practices. They would automatically think of making compromises, using threats, demonstrations and make demands, insisting on their rights and even force, to get their way. But the apostle Paul reminds us in 2 Cor.10:3-4 that Christians may live in this world, but the methods they use to resolve conflicts and disagreements must not be worldly methods.

Paul tells us that Christians have divine powers? What are some of these divine powers that we can count on to resolve our conflicts and differences with others? 1) We have the truth that lies in God’s Word. The Bible reveals to us how God sees the world and the circumstances we sometimes face. Such insights are available to Christians, that non-Christians do not have. With the ability to see truth in situations can sometimes lead to solutions to conflicts. 2) We have faith. Our faith is in our Lord. He is by our side and He guides us. We can seek wisdom from Him to resolve conflicts. 3) We have love. God is love and He commands us to love others as ourselves. Being guided by love means we show love and consideration to others in trying to resolve differences. Love can overcome much where hate and strife cannot. 4) We have prayer. We can pray to the Lord for help, direction, patience, and the words to say, to bring about reconciliation and unity when we face disagreements.

There was a dispute between two neighbors over their property demarcation. Both were Christians. The obvious solution would be to appoint a land surveyor to demarcate the boundary lines. But one party was being unreasonable and he threatened to take his neighbor to court and insisted that his neighbor was illegally encroaching on his land. The matter became a deadlock. Then, the more reasonable neighbor remembered he had divine powers, so he sought the Lord’s help in prayer. He surrendered the matter to the Lord and asked for wisdom and grace to resolve the matter by peaceful means. The matter was eventually resolved and the matter did not go to court.

Let us pray: Heavenly Father, we thank you for giving us the strength and the tools to resolve differences without resorting to worldly methods. Please help us to always seek to resolve our differences in ways that honor you. We pray this in the mighty name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

Questions

1. How do you usually resolve your conflicts and disagreements with others?
2. When you resort to using worldly ways to resolve your conflicts, what was the outcome and how might you do things differently now?
3. Why should you use Godly ways to resolve your conflicts instead of worldly ways? Discuss.
4. Have you used the divine ways as suggested in this devotion to resolve conflicts? Share.