Hi and welcome once again to “Abounding Grace”, To-day we will be discussing the marks of maturity in the lives of grace orientated children of God. I trust by this time our minds are somewhat renewed to the grace message, as individuals we must realize that there are going to be disagreements with others, the question is how do we conduct ourselves in the midst of a disagreement, I know from my own experience that if ever I was involved in an argument and it look like I was going to lose, my next reaction was to choke the life out of the opposition, but I’m glad to say that the Word has made a bit of a difference in me over the years of studying grace and I don’t act so unbecoming so often now days. Let us take time to look into the lives of two men that were called by the Holy Spirit to a certain work, and yet these two men had a disagreement on an issue that split the partnership and cause a rift in their relationship for a period of time.
Acts.15:36-41. (Amp) And after some time Paul said to Barnabas, Come, let us go back and again visit and help and minister to the brethren in every town where we made known the message of the Lord, and see how they are getting along. Now Barnabas wanted to take with them John called Mark [his near relative]. But Paul did not think it best to have along with them the one who had quit and deserted them in Pamphylia and had not gone on with them to the work. And there followed a sharp disagreement between them, so that they separated from each other, and Barnabas took Mark with him and sailed away to Cyprus. But Paul selected Silas and set out, being commended by the brethren to the grace (the favour and mercy) of the Lord. And he passed through Syria and Cilicia, establishing and strengthening the churches.
In the King James verse 39 says: “And the contention was so sharp between them, that they departed asunder one from the other”
This was no little disagreement, this was a very serious tiff, and it actually split a partnership that the Holy Ghost had ordained. One of the marks of maturity is the ability to disagree without becoming disagreeable, the household of God ought to be at a place where a person can find tolerance, tact, open mindedness and plenty of room for disagreement, we are not to close the doors on differing points of view, but usually when Christians disagree it is done in a blunt and tactless way.
Eph.4:29. (Amp) Let no foul or polluting language, nor evil word nor unwholesome or worthless talk [ever] come out of your mouth, but only such [speech] as is good and beneficial to the spiritual progress of others, as is fitting to the need and the occasion, that it may be a blessing and give grace (God’s favour) to those who hear it.
The word unwholesome means, harmful, poisonous, degrading, demoralizing, immoral, perverting and corrupting, these sorts of words should not precede from our mouths, instead only speech that is good and beneficial to the spiritual progress of others, words that are a blessing and give grace (God’s favour) to the hearers. What a goal.
No matter what we do, disagreements will arise and we must understand that disagreements are inevitable and no matter what the subject is there will be differing points of view. This is what freedom is all about, respecting other people’s points of view, and we must allow for differences. Even Godly people will sometimes disagree, and it can be hard to understand how two people that love Jesus and His Word can stand opposed on certain issues, but they can and in every disagreement we will find the same two ingredients:
- There will be various issues.
- There will be various viewpoints.
The issue’s will involve principles and are usually objective whereas the viewpoints involve personalities and are usually subjective or relating to the subject. Herein lays the source of every clash, a disagreement on an issue because of an opposing viewpoint. Understanding these two simple ingredients will help us keep calm in conflicts with others. In most disagreements each side would have a valid argument and differing viewpoints are not so much an “I am right and you are wrong’’ issue as they are an “I see it from this perspective, and you see it from that perspective”. In any disagreement either side would have strengths and weakness, nevertheless they lead to division and any conflict can create a rift in a relationship.
That’s all for now folks’, we will continue next time by analyzing the disagreement that took place between Paul and Barnabas, in the meantime I’ll say “till next time”. Have a happy day and be a blessing to someone to-day that you know doesn’t deserve your favour, allow the grace of God to flow from you to them.
If you have never made Jesus the Lord of your life then I want to give you an opportunity to receive the grace that God is offering you to-day, by praying the following prayer and receiving your salvation by faith you can enter into covenant with God the Father through the sacrifice of His Son Jesus:
“Father, it is written in Your Word that if I confess with my mouth Jesus as Lord and believe in my heart that You have raised Him from dead, I shall be saved. Therefore, Father, I confess that Jesus is my Lord. I make Him Lord of my life right now. I believe in my heart that You raised Jesus from the dead. I renounce my past life with Satan. “I thank You for forgiving me of all my sin. Jesus is now my Lord, and I am a new creation. Old things have passed away. Now all things become new in Jesus’ name. Amen.”
For further words of Cheer click on the link: http://theinvisablechurch.wordpress.com/
