[May 10, 2026] Wisdom and Conflict

Surrender to God. Submit to God. To submit to God means you come under his covering. That's what that word submit means. Submit yourself to God. Resist Diablos. Resist the slanderer, the accuser, the liar, the deceiver. Resist him, and then pursue peace. Pursue peace. Resolving conflict is so important to Jesus. He prayed that we would be one as he and the father were one. Love and unity is a big deal to our savior. [00:29:58] (39 seconds)  #SubmitToGodPursuePeace

You know what that tells me? To Jesus, our reconciliation is more important than our acts of worship in that moment because wreck pursuing reconciliation is honoring Jesus, and it's an act of worship to pursue peace and to pursue reconciliation. And I get it. Sometimes you're going to pursue reconciliation and the other person maybe doesn't doesn't want to have that. Well, that's something that you just have to accept there that, Lord, I'm trying to be obedient to you. And if they don't want to reconcile, you can't control that. [00:16:28] (34 seconds)  #PursueReconciliation

In the New Testament, the we see our word devil. It's translated from the Greek word diablos. It's also if you speak Spanish, that's the way you say devil in Spanish, diablos. And it literally means to slander. Paul told Timothy, he said, don't let the women of your church slander one another. But it's the same word for devil, diablos. Don't diablos one another. When we are gossiping about somebody, we're just a puppet for the diablos. We're his mouthpiece. [00:08:13] (38 seconds)  #StopGossip

The next, sometimes in conflict, we have to speak up. Speaking up is very important on how we speak up. Proverbs twelve eighteen, the words of the reckless pierce like swords, but the tongue of the wise brings healing. Speak the truth, but speak it tactfully. I heard somebody say this, when you're in conflict, attack the issue, attack the conflict without attacking the person. [00:27:35] (31 seconds)  #SpeakTruthTactfully

Speak the truth in love, Paul says in Ephesians 15. So it doesn't mean we don't talk, it means we lead with grace and we lead with love. Jesus spoke the truth, but he didn't use truth as a hammer. He led with love. Even when he was harsh on the religious, it was coming from a place of love for them. And in a situation where you're trying to resolve a conflict or you're in a conflict, even if you're right, it does not give us the right to use words that hurt, reckless words. We can hurt others with our words. So be careful when you speak up. [00:28:10] (45 seconds)  #SpeakInLove

Here's a little timeless truth. If you're when you're in conflict with somebody, don't talk to everybody else about your conflict. That just makes things worse. You Jesus says to go to that person in private. Go to if you're offended, go to that person in private and try to work things out. Don't go gossiping or talking about that problem with everybody else. It just makes it worse. [00:15:39] (29 seconds)  #PrivateResolution

We give ourselves grace in conflict because we know our own motives. We don't always know the motives of the person we're in conflict with. Learning to extend and lead with grace rather than judgment will change your relationships. When you're offended, bothered, something happens, if you can be like Jesus and let your first response be grace rather than judgment, your relationships will change. Your relationships will get better and better. [00:26:57] (38 seconds)  #LeadWithGrace

And so what do you do with your dandelions? You could do what a lot of people do is just mow over them, and then they're gone for a couple days, and everyone's happy. But then what happens two or three days later? They pop back up. That dandelion is a mental image of what the Bible calls a bitter root. Don't let bitterness take root in your heart, Hebrews 13 says. It will defile many. [00:14:40] (29 seconds)  #RootOutBitterness