Sunday, August 15, 2010

RECAP: Conflict & Reconciliation


Conflict is a very common thing in the world today .It arises when one misuses the freedom given to us by God. What freedom? The freedom that we have is to love one another and not to satisfy our selfish need Let’s look at Galatians 5:13-15

Galatians 5:13-15 (New International Version)

13You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature[a]; rather, serve one another in love. 14The entire law is summed up in a single command: "Love your neighbor as yourself."[b] 15If you keep on biting and devouring each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other.

Conflict always happens in a relationship and sometime it can’t be avoided. It is not good because it will drain us of our energy and also stop us from loving on another. And if conflict is not resolved it can lead us to destroy one another. That’s why we must always be ready to reconcile with one another.

Reconciling sometimes cannot be easy as because you may have to be the one to take the first step even if it’s not your fault. We will also need to learn to love our enemies. This means we’d have to surrender our rights & need for justice, surrender our hunger for revenge & surrender our ego into God’s safe keeping. Regardless of our situation we must accept each other for better or worse. This may seem impossible but it is not for our God. We must trust Him & play our part too by facing the real issue of the conflict and not ignore it and let God help us get through it. We may also need to become peace makers by :-

•adopting a posture of brotherhood
•adopting a posture of open conversation
•placing ourselves & our pride on the altar

To sum all this up we may need to become our brother keeper where we would need to accept each other no matter what & have an unwillingness to break ties with the person you’re having conflict with. Why do we have to put ourselves through this…..well cause God really meant it when he said love thy neighbor which also include your enemies (take a look at Matthew 5:38-48). Only when we do this, then we know we belong to the Father in heaven.

Want to hear the sermon again, Just download it by clicking the link below:D:D
(If you have trouble with link 1 try link 2)

The Sermon:-
Conflict and Reconciliation(Link 1) OR
Conflict and Reconciliation(Link 2)

The Slides - The Slides for the Sermon