Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Christian Podcast Central

Home
Evangelical - Sponsored
Christian Home & Family: How To Stop Family Conflicts

Christian Home & Family: How To Stop Family Conflicts

Last updated on: December 11, 2014 at 10:47 am by Christian Podcast Central

Christian Home & Family: How To Stop Family Conflicts 2014-12-11T10:47:42-08:00 Christian Podcast Central

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

From Carey Green, author, blogger, speaker, coach and pastor:

Family conflicts can make life inside the home horrendous. Nobody wants to be around when arguing, fighting, and complaining are the norm.

So how do you get past the arguing?

You get past it by preventing it in the first place. And you do that through working hard toward every person in the family having a right relationship with God.

But, isn’t conflict a part of every family?

Well, yes. But you can stop the effects and frequency of it, if you know one important thing.

“…God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all” (1 John 1:5)

“Whoever says his is in the light and hates his brother is still in darkness. Whoever loves his brother abides in the light, and in him there is no cause for stumbling. But whoever hates his brother is in the darkness and walks in the darkness, and does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes. (1 John 2:9-11)

As you can see, John uses the illustration of light a lot. This is because it is vitally important to understand the nature of our relationship to God and God’s relationship to sin.

You see, family conflicts usually start because someone is walking in selfishness. Because of pride. Because of sin in somebody’s life, or perhaps in both parties’ lives. Conflict is evidence that someone is not humble enough. Someone is not being a servant. Someone is not loving like Christ would have them love the other person.

So what can we do about it?

This passage tells us that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. But when we are having conflict between one another – John calls it “hatred” – you, at that moment, are walking in darkness.

Therefore, conflict reveals that you may have moved away from God. It may be a simple as an attitude of the heart, or it may be as practical as not spending enough time with Him, seeking His help or power of His Holy Spirit in your life. It may be that you’ve got your heart, mind, and eyes set on how something should be according to the way you want it to be, without being flexible to other people (or worse, to God’s will). Or perhaps you’ve moved away from the role you have in serving the other people in your family for their good.

What we need to understand is that the way to eliminate conflict within your family is:

For you to move closer to God;
Help your children to understand this concept as well.

You see, when we are all, as a family, move close to God – daily walking with Him, listening to Him, reading His Word, drawing close to Him – that struggle we have with selfishness instead of love will diminish. Because God’s light will illuminate in our lives and our families.

So, there are two applications here:

Think through your OWN responsibility. Ask, “what is it in me that is driving me toward conflict?”
Think of ways that your entire family can walk closer to God.

This will cause the frequency of these times of conflict to grow less and less.

The Bible says that when we practice love instead of conflict, you will find that love will start to flow toward each person in your family – even those people who irritate you, who are inconsiderate, or who don’t do their chores. You will find yourself coming up alongside these people and discovering ways to help them grow in their walk with God instead of just entering into conflict.

christian culture podcast

christian family relationship podcast

CHRISTIAN GROWTH

christian relationship advice

christian relationship podcast

how to communicate with your spouse

HOW TO STOP FAMILY CONFLICT

is the bible reliable

Previous Post

December 9, 2014

The Big Picture Podcast 55: Be Courageous and Strong!

Next Post

December 11, 2014 Blending Your StepFamily: Parenting Styles

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Brad Stine Has Issues Christian Podcast Central Classic Podcast Experience God Life Grounded Ouxano Parent Like You Mean It The Protest Show with Thor Ramsey The Summit Lecture Series Uncategorized What You’ve Been Searching For

Select a Month July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 June 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz