Believer's Guide to Conflict Resolution, Part 2 with Shaunda
Lisa Lorenzo and Shaunda continue their conversation about how Christians should approach conflict resolution. They discuss the importance of humility in acknowledging one's own mistakes and weaknesses. They highlight that the hardest apology to accept is the one that is never offered, and suggest that by taking responsibility and forgiving one another, it can help to change hearts and minds. They also emphasize that it is easier to accept one's own mistakes when someone else takes responsibility for some of the wrongs that have been done. They suggest that this is something that parents often do with their children, and can be a helpful tool in conflict resolution.
The conversation discussed how to show humility and take responsibility in a situation when there has been a conflict. The speaker used an example from their friend Conchi, who suggested not to use the word but when apologizing, as it can make the apology sound passive aggressive. The speaker gave an example of what that might look like in real life, suggesting that instead of saying I'm sorry I hurt you, but you need to work on this, it is more effective to say I'm sorry that I hurt you. I'm sorry that my words were so nasty to you, and I really want to help you moving forward. What can I do to help you so that we can meet at a place and a time that makes it more convenient for you? By doing this, it shows that there is an effort to reconcile and not to place blame.
This conversation looks at the importance of understanding and acknowledging one's own weaknesses in order to respond to conflicts more effectively. The speaker talks about how they've asked the Lord if they were the cause of the conflict and sometimes it is revealed that it is a spiritual attack, and other times it is revealed that it is due to their own shortcomings. The speaker also mentions that while it is too late to go back and apply these lessons when their children were young, they can still model these practices in the conflicts that come up now. They also acknowledge that they were raised in a very conflictive home and that Jesus is now helping them to heal and grow. The conversation ends with a reminder that we should not live in a place of regret, but rather learn from the experiences and move forward.
The conversation between the two speakers focused on spiritual warfare and how it can affect relationships. The speaker shared that God is always with us and has given us the Holy Spirit to help us in our journey. They discussed the greatest commandment, which is to love God with all our heart, mind, and strength and to love others as ourselves. They also discussed spiritual attack, and how it can be initiated by ourselves or from outside forces. They concluded that although we have worldly weapons such as books and therapy to help us, we must remember that everything that touches our head passes through God's loving hands first.
Timestamps
0:00:00
Heading: Conflict Resolution for Believers: Acknowledging Our Own Weaknesses and Mistakes
0:02:18
Conversation on Humility and Conflict Resolution
0:05:06
Conversation on Acknowledging Weaknesses and Conflict Resolution
0:06:57
Conversation on Spiritual Attack and Growing in Faith
0:08:51
Spiritual Weapons for Conflict Resolution: A Conversation with Lisa
0:10:13
Conversation on Spiritual Weapons for Standing Firm in God's Promises
0:13:04
Memorizing Bible Verses: A Visual Guide
0:15:03
Conversation on Conflict Resolution and Spiritual Disciplines
0:18:09
Heading: Conflict Resolution Through Prayer
0:19:44
Conversation on Conflict Resolution and Forgiveness
0:21:27
Conversation on Conflict Resolution and Peace Making with Shaunda
0:23:16
Conversation on Peacemaking and Peacekeeping with Shaunda
Highlights
And if we've ever prayed, Lord, send me and you're in a conflict, he might be sending you to model conflict resolution to the other person, to model what humility and love looks like to another person. So if you're praying, Lord, send me and use me. I want to reach the world with Jesus message. Guess what Jesus message was? There is a divide between you and the Heavenly Father, and I'm going to come and stand in the gap. And it cost him.
It really is very simple. It's just doing it. And that's the whole reason for this podcast, is to encourage you, listeners as well as one another. I think a lot of times, the more you are aware of what's going on, really in the spiritual context, it's a lot easier to not feel that it's because of you or take on that defensive posture that God has already overcome the world. We just need to rest in Him, which is really hard to do.
So if you can be slow to anger, slow to speak, listen to understand and show compassion, bathe it in prayer, be humble, use the Holy Spirit, use the word of God, not as a weapon against the person. But, you know, why don't you look up a few verses on unity and pray those verses? Lord, help us to have unity. I pray those verses every day. And I also pray Ephesians 4:29 be kind to one another, tender hearted forgiving one another.
Wow, that's crazy. The most important thing too. God told us that we were going to have conflict. He said, Take heart, in this life you will have trouble, but I have overcome the world. So we're tethered to that promise because we are reconciled to God, so we can address conflict in a way that honors Him. If we remind ourselves that God has already done all of the work, we just have to let Him change us first.
Don't approach conflict resolution where I'm going to do all I can, but I'm leaving here with peace with this person. No, because the Bible tells us as long as it belongs to you, have peace with everybody. But it's impossible to have peace with everybody if we don't start with peace with God and then peace with ourselves. And we come into a place where we recognize our shortcomings, our weaknesses, are willing to be transparent about it and show love.
