Conflict stinks.  Keep reading for a story of rotten filth. 🙂

“If a fellow believer hurts you, go and tell him -work it out between the two of you.”- verse found in the Bible, Matthew chapter 18, verse 15.  Another translation says,” If another believer sins against you, go privately and point out the offense.”  This was the verse I chose to journal about today for my Soap journaling(search soap on my blog to learn on this cool method of letting the Bible change you)

O(observation of the verse)-  Deal with conflict one on one and privately

A(application- how I am going to let this verse change me)- Conflict resolution has been mentioned in lots of leadership books I have been reading and they get their advice from the Bible.

But we almost all avoid conflict like the Black Plague.  We would rather sweep it under the rug and think it is gone.  To ignore it doesn’t make it go away.  It just allows bitterness to take root in our heart. Which then leads to us opening our big mouths and telling someone else(or many people) of their offense against us in attempt to “win”people to our side.

God’s word tells us to go directly and privately to them, between JUST the 2 of you.  No gossip involved.  No bitterness. No giving Satan a place in our life.

What a wise way-directly, privately, and promptly.

But the wisest choice is often the hardest and bravest choice so that is why we don’t do it.

I’d rather wuss out, bury my head in the sand, and hopes it goes away but it won’t.  Instead this conflict will grow if left alone in the dark just like the nasty furry mold on 5 day old Chinese food that was forgetten under the passenger car seat(true story- one of my girls that I was mentoring forgot her leftovers- we didnt discover the foul source for 5 days).

So if we leave an offense, a hurt unresolved- it starts to smell foul.  We try to ignore it with some Febreeze(fake smiles with surface level conversations).  That Chinese food mold was not going away until I found it, dealt with it and got rid of it. We MUST do the same with conflict.  Dealing with conflict is good and healthy.

P(my prayer to apply what I learned)-  Jesus give me courage to deal with conflict privately and promptly.  Help me to do so with words of grace and love so no bitterness takes root in my heart.