I've never really been in a fight before, a physical fight that is. There was that one time at school when this guy had some completely wrong information, and thought i said stuff about him that i didn't. Anyway, he came up to me after school and hit me in the mouth with 3 quick jabs. It honestly didn't hurt, but i was in total shock. That had never happen before, and i didn't know how to react, so i just stood there motionless.
What's funny is i think that made him even more mad that i didn't do anything back (again, not because i was doing the right thing, but because i was in shock). He cocked his fist back to hit me again, but one of the school coaches grabbed his arm and brought him to the principal's office. I thought nothing of it, got on my bus, and went home. Well, the next day i got called into the principal's office and i got paddled because i was involved in a fight!!!!!! Can you believe that mess???? I was completely innocent...seriously! This happened in Jr. High and it was a pretty "Jr. High" way to handle conflict.
Jesus' words were very strong on this topic. I'm so glad it's one of our Core Values at First Assembly. As followers of Christ, we must handle conflict biblically. Jesus gives us the blueprint to doing this in Matthew 18: 15-17. The world is watching us, and if we don't model this for them to follow, we're going to have more people getting punch in the face for no reason (-:
Have you ever been in a situation where you didn't handle conflict biblically? How did you feel once you realized you were in the wrong?
Of course Matthew follows these verses with one of Jesus' parables on forgiveness. How appropriate (-:
Handling conflict biblically and forgiveness goes hand and hand. Do you think there is ever a time when we shouldn't forgive or handle conflict in a way other than what Jesus describes in this passage?
-Gary
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