Randi Meyer
Thursday 3/12/09
8. Conflict

1. Everyone was created differently. No two people were created the same. Each person has their own gifts, talents, perspectives, viewpoints, understandings, interpretations and so on. How could there not be conflict among people? The world and humanity is diverse, and I believe that is the beauty of God’s creation. If everyone thought the same and acted the same, then conflict would not occur but what a boring world that would be!
2. We live in a fallen world. Once sin entered into humanity, conflict began to occur right away. People are not perfect and react in evil ways all the time, which results in bad conflict among them. We see this as soon as Adam and Eve eat the forbidden fruit. God asks Adam why he ate it, and he immediately blames Eve for his sin. I believe that must have caused conflict in their relationship.
3. The Bible never says that conflict is a sin. There are two kinds of conflict; evil conflict and good conflict. When people are causing conflict to hurt others and make themselves look good they are sinning, and it is evil conflict. Good conflict is when there is a disagreement among people, but they resolve it in a loving way. Jesus caused conflict all the time while he was on earth. He boldly pointed out the sins of those around him and taught new perspectives. I do not believe we can say that the conflict he created was bad. At times there it is right to cause some tension and conflict, so that others can grow in Christ.
4. Conflict can be a growing experience. As Christians, we are called to be sanctified and become more like Christ. The way this occurs is by learning how to love others more. When there is conflict between two people and it is dealt in a healthy way, it teaches them to love each other even though they have differences. It is easy to love your neighbor, but much harder to love your enemy.
5. There is forgiveness in conflict. Christ died on the cross to forgive our sins. When conflict occurs and sin is involved Christ still forgives us. Through his example, he teaches us to forgive others to and resolve our conflict.