I get a lot of my inspiration for posts from sermons at church. We have two great preachers who I feel are open to God's leading and even if it isn't apparent or relevant to their topic, something they say usually spurs a blogpost. So if you're ever interested in listening to some great ones, you can listen here.
There is truth in matters and then there are perspectives. The truth is the 9/11 wasn't a government conspiracy, the holocaust did happen, and men have walked on the moon. The truth is the Jesus did die on the cross for us and rise again.
Last summer I had a conflict with someone I worked with. We were both transitioning...she into a job at our office and I to part time. We both had a way we saw this would happen, but it wasn't necessarily how the other saw it as happening. I had created most of the processes for doing everything on the business side of things and I felt a lot of ownership over the business. To say it was a difficult transition for me to let go of some things is putting it mild. And with me not being in the office, things just had to be done whether they were the right way or not. Now I know I sound really controlling and I am in some aspects, but some crucial mistakes were made because of this. We deal with very sensitive information and fragile people. Now this is my perspective, her's maybe different. Well, we both thought the other was being ridiculous for being upset. However we both needed each other to be there in the capacity that we were for different reasons. It took a little while to feel good and at peace with the other person, but we were both determined to make peace because working in an office together as we do mandates it.
Chad and I in our marriage are the same way in that we feel it is essential to make peace even when we disagree. Making peace may not happen as quickly as we would like, but most of the time it means having hard discussions and working through things together whether we are actually feeling it or not. Sometimes it's acting like it's peaceful even when we don't feel it and the feelings catch up.
In John 9 there is a story of a man who was blind from birth and Jesus healed. The Pharisees were in such disbelief they accused the man of faking his entire life for not being the same person who was blind. They even questioned the man's parents. I wonder how blinded I may be at times. I often thought that if Jesus came today I would be a Pharisee and not see Jesus for who he is. I hope not, especially with the miracles so apparent that he performed.
At what cost do we make peace with people? Is our perspective worth being crucified over? Jesus was crucified for us and I don't think that anything that I encounter would come close to being crucified over. I think it would be the same for most Christians in the USA, but I think sometimes we choose our will over peace because we lose sight that it is our perspective we see and not necessarily the truth.
So on this Good Friday, I'm going to make a resolution to appreciate the cross more and work to achieve peace at almost any cost. Conflict, drama, etc is just not worth it.
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