Quotes about Conflict

Hmm. Relationships between fathers and sons can be notoriously difficult, especially for two men who are as different as you and your father are." "Yes, and he's also the king--that makes our relationship impossible.

once I understand that my enemy is never going to lay down arms and sign a peace treaty with, I would be wise to remain on full alert at all times.

Saying "I'm fine" to keep the peace, when we're really not fine, isn't honest. It may seem godly in the moment, but it's false godliness. Truth and godliness always walk hand in hand. The minute we divorce one from the other, we stray from soul integrity and give a foothold to the instability that inevitably leads to coming unglued.

In God's economy, people don't stand on opposing sides of the conflict scale. People stand on one side and Satan stands on the other. When we dump hurt into one another's lives, we aren't leveling the conflict scale. We are just weighing down the people side of the scale and elevating the Satan side of the scale. Satan loves it when we do his work for him by dumping on each other.

Tackle issues not people. Am I trying to prove my point or improve the relationship?

Whenever any kind of relationship conflict arises, my choice is whether to give the other person power to control my emotions.

Nothing will give you emotional laryngitis like living in close proximity to someone who refuses to listen. Having emotions but no voice chokes the life out of relationships.

My feelings and my faith will almost certainly come into conflict with each other. My feelings see rotten situations as absolutely unnecessary hurt that stinks. My soul sees it as fertilizer for a better future. Both these perspectives are real. And they yank me in different directions with never-ending wrestling. To wrestle well means acknowledging my feelings but moving forward, letting my faith lead the way.

two types of stuffer reactions: stuffers who build barriers and stuffers who collect retaliation rocks.

remember not every face-to-face confrontation needs a verbal response

Sometimes relationships grow stronger through conflict; other times relationships end.

I realized that neither Paul nor Barnabas were bad people. They were good people. But they weren't good together. And that's okay. It's so much healthier to be brave enough to go your separate ways than to keep stuffing and drown in a sea of bitterness.