“I am praying not only for these disciples but also for all who will ever believe in me through their message. I pray that they will all be one, just as you and I are one – as you are in me, Father, and I am in you. And may they be in us so that the world will believe you sent me. I have given them the glory you gave me, so they may be one as we are one. I am in them and you are in me. May they experience such perfect unity that the world will know that you sent me and that you love them as much as you love me.” – John 17: 20-23 (NLT)
Diversity turns our world into a salad bowl. A bowl comprising of a variety of vegetables, condiments and other ingredients incorporated into one salad mixture describes a picture of the diverse world, filled with all sorts of living things that include human beings who live under different cultures and upbringings leading them to have differences in the ways they think and act, in the choice of words and tone of voice when they speak, and in perspectives that bring them to have different opinions, views and perspectives on life and experiences. Each human is designed differently according to God’s vision of the world and mission for each individual to fulfill His vision. Our uniqueness is created for us to contribute positively in the society we live in (e.g. sharing our God given talents in arts, music, etc..) as God expects us to do.
There are times when embracing and taking pride of our own uniqueness are going far from His expectations. Differences sometimes lead to misunderstandings, escalating later into conflicts if left unresolved. Conflicts usually arise when two or more parties let their misunderstandings take their toll and according to God’s Word, the best way to resolve them is through proper confrontation, wherein two parties would have a heart-to-heart talk in private and discuss their negative feelings towards one another using a neutral tone (“I feel that…”, “I would appreciate it if..”). Keeping the negative feelings and problems to oneself, gossiping to other peers and letting negative emotions control a person to the point that he or she would directly say hurtful words, use physical violence (e.g. punching, pulling of hair, slapping..) and yell at the pinpoint person would not all solve the conflict but on the contrary, would worsen it until the relationship of the two parties ends.
The next step to settling disputes is to compromise especially when discussions turn into an intense heated debate. Compromise shows that both parties value their relationship with one another more than their respective egos, and leads to forgiveness and moving forward more easily than a never-ending conflict and broken relationship would. Last but not the least, the ultimate solution to ending conflicts is to pray. God will provide us His own ways to solve conflicts that He expects us to make our own, restore ruined relationships, heal brokenness, and open our hearts to forgiveness and moving forward in peace.
Lord, please forgive us for not being conscious of our own words and actions that can hurt other people. Please forgive us for letting our negative thoughts and emotions influence our sinfulness and for failing to forgive others who hurt us. We pray that when conflicts happen, we will be able to discuss and solve them tactfully by using kind words and without acts of physical and verbal violence, and that we will take responsibility of our own thoughts, words and deeds. Please help us to resist the temptation to share our problems to anyone who is not involved in the fight and instead, to direct us to a trusted person whom we can share our problems to and who can provide us proper solutions to solve disputes. And finally, we would like to ask you to fill our hearts with love and to heal our brokenness so that we can let go of our grudges, forgive people who have hurt us and move on peacefully in our respective lives. All these we ask in your son Jesus’s name. AMEN.
Additional Readings
“Readings for 2017-09-10 (Gospel),” The Kerygma Family
In God's Kingdom 