B
ut you know this already. You are
blessed with gifts that separate you
from other people—gifts that make
you unique. The Bible calls all the different
gifts, divers gifts. You have one or two (or a
few of those), too. It’s true, there is no one in
the entire world exactly like you.
So…
Why in the world do you expect everyone to be like you? Here’s the point. We say
in our heads that we realize that everyone’s
different. We promise to celebrate those differences and respect the way that we are all
one body fitly joined together for use in God’s
Kingdom, but then conflict arises. That is
when our differences within the body are put
to the test. That fitly jointly drama goes out of
the window, and the one thing that angers us,
continuously is, “Why doesn’t she see it the
way I do?”
Wouldn’t it be great, for us all to see
things alike? There would be no more arguments, disagreements, conflicts and strife.
We’d all just get along. But saints, it doesn’t
work like that. We are different, and because
we operate in a Christian community that calls
us to put our differences together to present
a united body of believers, we have to work
hard to make sure differences don’t divide us.
With that said, we shouldn’t expect
to get along perfectly. My way of resolving
conflict probably won’t match your way, and
acknowledging that fact first may diffuse a lot
of drama.
Over the years, I’ve realized, that most
of the issues I’ve had with other people have
had to do with my not understanding that
everyone doesn’t think like I do. This revelation is probably not foreign to you, either. But
it’s not unnatural to think that way.
The only way of thinking we know is
our own, because, well, that’s the only head
we’ve been in all of our lives. So our first
instinct is to expect others to share the same
thought processes. We don’t immediately realize that the other person’s experience, family
background, baggage, or even what they had
for breakfast effects how she responds to
conflict.
If we go in with a one another attitude
(Romans is full of one-another behaviors) we
will become other centered in dealing with…
okay I’ll say it…one another.
Here it is in a nut shell, there is no one
in the world like you, so for “peace”-sake,
don’t expect others to do what you do. And
please, don’t think because you do it, it must
be right. The thing that keeps sisters in Christ
walking in love with one another, in spite of
their differences, is the unity we find in Christ.
If we are all following His principle, we should
be able to better navigate our uniqueness, and
thus resolve those conflicts that arise with the
cause of Christ ever before us.
Next time you begin to wonder, why a
person doesn’t see things the way you do, just
remember, it’s simply because that person is
not you. And lastly, when conflict arises out
of differences, remember to find the common
cause of Christ for which you both work and
start reconciliation there.
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