Reading: Philippians 4:2-9

Paul mentions two women who were quarrelling. Has a quarrel ever affected you? Division can affect the joy of many, not just the one we’re in conflict with. Paul starts off exhorting Euodia and Syntche to be of the same mind and for the other leaders to help them get things worked out.

This gives us some insight into how conflict can be turned into rejoicing in the Lord. We must start by either getting into joy or restoring the joy lost because of relational conflict. Conflict can help us as long as we see conflict as an opportunity that comes from God to move us to a higher level.

Through conflict we learn about things that we didn’t know (or thought we knew). We can misunderstand conflict to be something that shouldn’t happen, or that invalidates and disqualifies us which can result in losing our joy. So we must learn to see conflict as an opportunity to learn and grow.

Ignorance is not an indictment of “you should have known and are to blame for not knowing”; rather it’s an opportunity to learn what you don’t know. When you approach conflict that way, you can have or get your joy back! We can say “Thanks God, this is an opportunity, not an accusation!”

To be of one mind doesn’t mean we see or do things the same, it means to do them in harmony, like different instruments playing different parts of the same song. We also need to approach relational conflict with humility and gentleness. We can’t let fear and anxiety make us abrupt or hard to be received.

We can resolve our anxiety through prayer, knowing God will help us resolve every conflict by trusting in Him to answer our prayers. This will guard our hearts and minds and bring peace.

After that we need to guard our thoughts and meditations using the list given in verse 8 so we don’t sabotage ourselves and our prayers. Remember – we’re leading others in how we process and resolve conflict.