Inconsistency, Conflict and God’s Heart
or
What I’ve learned from nearly 3 years of Closer than Comfortable Community Living
Respond to the inconsistencies of others the way Christ responds to yours, with GRACE.
We’re so often a people quick to judge, lets be a people quick to love. Love people through their inconsistencies and low points, but also have the courage to call them higher. Grace enables you to stay in relationship through conflict. Grace keeps your sights clear, enabling you to see as HE sees. Jesus, give us Your eyes, give us Your heart for others. You’ve been so patient with us, help us to be patient with the ones we walk closely with. “The cost of intimacy is always conflict” (Ken Helser), so don’t be surprised when it comes. Instead,
1) Thank God
Thank God for the conflict, because it means He has blessed you with intimacy, with a close relationship with that person. Begin to thank God for the person you are in conflict with. Thank God for their life. Thank God for who they are in His eyes, and you just might begin to see them that way again.
2) Speak Grace
When relationships get tough, speak grace over them.
“Then he said to me, “This is the word of the LORD to Zerubbabel: Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the LORD of hosts. Who are you, O great mountain? Before Zerubbabel you shall become a plain. And he shall bring forward the top stone amid shouts of ‘Grace, grace to it!” (Zechariah 4)
No matter how high the mountain of conflict is between you and a person, shouts of “GRACE, GRACE to it!” can bring that mountain down. Not by your own might, not by your own power, but by His SPIRIT the reconciliation will come.
3) Seek His Heart
Seek God’s heart for how HE wants to bring you back to a loving relationship with that person. 10 times out of 10, He will have a plan. Truly bring the situation before the Lord, hand it over to Him, and healing will come.
