God's spirit empowers us to love others and to hope for the best, just as we ourselves are embraced by the love and hope of God. Our natural reaction in conflict situations is often to assume the other person is hopelessly wrong - ignorant, stubborn, selfish, foolish. Why bother trying to restore our relationship - it will never work. But the love of God - for us and for them - gives us true hope that both they and we can change for the better.
It may help if we remember that many changeable factors contribute to the way that people interact with one another throughout the day. The person that you are having trouble with may be struggling with a financial set back, they may have not got the proper amount of sleep the night before, or they may have have a fight with a loved one that morning that started their day off wrong. We also may have a different way of speaking or acting that gives off an incorrect impression. I know that in my life I am often misunderstood as being angry or upset simply because of the tone of my voice and the way that I speak. It makes me stop and think very hard about what I am about to say and how I am going to say it, especially when speaking to the people that I manage on a daily basis. Another thing that I have learned is that we all have different ways of handling the stress that comes up in our lives. Some people need time alone to think, while others, like myself, like to handle the problem right then and there, often times no matter who is around to hear it.
The thing that I lean on is that with God's help there is always hope. What seems like a insurmountable conflict today can become an opportunity for a deeper relationship and understanding tomorrow. Always remember to focus on the factors that may help improve and move things forward, rather than focusing on the negative. Through prayer, you and I can ask God to help us be gentle and humble, see the good in other people, and let go of our anxieties.
"Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. And above all these put on love, which binds everything in perfect harmony." Colossians 3:12-14 ESV
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