Day 253: Acts 15:39–41

There was such a sharp disagreement that they parted company, and Barnabas took Mark with him and sailed off to Cyprus (v. 39).

Like Paul and Barnabas, we may sometimes find ourselves strongly differing with someone about matters related to church or ministry. But differing convictions don’t have to become razor-sharp contentions. Here is a four-step plan for dealing with conflicts between believers:

1. Identify the real source of the argument. Job 16:3 asks a relevant question: “What ails you that you keep on arguing?” Ask the Holy Spirit to shed light on the true source. Sometimes we believe that conviction is the motivation for our differing views until we allow God to reveal our selfishness or unwillingness to change. Part of spiritual maturity is risking our position in favor of the will and glory of God. Let’s be willing to allow Him to shed light on any selfish or worldly motive.

2. Submit the issue to God. James 4:7 exhorts, “Submit to God. But resist the Devil, and he will flee from you” (hcsb). An important part of giving anything to God is taking everything from Satan. Ephesians 4:26–27 tells us not to sin in our anger and thereby give the devil a foothold. Satan has a field day with our arguments and quarrels. When we ask God to remove all selfish, worldly motives and influences of the enemy, issues often either disappear or downsize to a workable level.

3. Resist the temptation to sin in your anger. Anger in and of itself is not sin. It is an emotion, and sometimes a very appropriate emotion. But unfortunately, anger heightens the risk of wrong actions or words. Each of us regrets something we’ve said or done in anger. Let’s ask God’s help when we are angry at another believer so that our feelings do not turn into wrong actions.

4. Pray for (and if possible, with) the other person involved. Prayer changes things and people! Philippians 4:6 invites us to pray about everything. Can you imagine how defeated the enemy would be if two divided church leaders or laymen got down on their knees together and prayed for God’s glory? We don’t have to be together on every issue, but we can be together in prayer!