Conflict is not pleasant nor sought after. Conflict will teach or torture. Conflict is absolute, at least if you are living that is, and so, the one positive attribute of conflict might be the confirmation one’s existence. All of us on a daily (if not hourly) basis experiences conflict. Conflict exists between family, friends, superiors, or even within ourselves (the conscience).
God has been teaching me about peace lately, which by definition is, the absense of conflict. A friend (thanks Scott) suggested reading a book by Ken Sande entitled, The Peace Maker. It is an excellent book that has given me tremendous insight into resolving conflict correctly, that is, by extending grace and mercy; the way Jesus introduced peace to a conflicted world.
Jesus, often referred to as The Prince of Peace, knew how to resolve conflict correctly. He knew when to be stern in His judgement (which was often His method toward the religious know-it-alls at the time; the Pharisees) and He knew when to season conflict with the correct amount of grace (which was often His method to the outcast and overt sinners at the time). This, as I have realized especially of late, is no easy task. Knowing when and to what amount I should apply grace and Truth to any conflict is challenging to say the least. We are selfish by nature (that is after the fall we have inherited a sinful nature) and want our own ways. This is bound to cause conflicts of all sorts with all sorts of people. Conflicts are never ending because we are all looking out for number one. As Ken Sande notes, “By your actions you will show either that you have a big God or that you have a big self and big problems. To put it another way, if you do not focus on God, you will inevitably focus on yourself and your will, or on other people and the threat of their wills.”
So the only cure to conflict is peace that is freely given by God through Jesus, The Prince of Peace.The more we focus on Jesus the less we focus on ourselves and conversely the less we will be distracted by worldly conflicts. I remember seeing a bumper sticker when I was younger that stated, Know God; Know Peace – No God; No Peace. How simple but how true this saying is. Peace originates in the heart of God. God’s heart was ripped and torn when Adam and Eve rejected Him in the Garden of Eden, and at that point in time conflict entered humanity; conflict between humans and conflict with God. God’s peace and perfect relation to humanity was trampled on by man and this made God sad. God’s sadness however didn’t change His nature and His love and peace still would conquer in the end. God’s peace would prevail because He had a plan of redemption for humanity; Jesus Christ (the God-man). Jesus would bring peace to the world again but this would not be a worldly form of peace (nation would still rage against nation). Jesus’ peace was a spiritual inner peace, a peace that transcends all understanding (Philippians 4). Only those placing trust in Jesus would experience this spiritual peace because Jesus was God’s answer to the spirtual conflict between man and God. God’s one and only answer was Jesus. Conflict will still rage between humans because humans are wordly and selfish but true peace (spirtual peace with God) can be found by all in Jesus of Nazareth. Have you found this peace?
