Ephesians 6:12 = "For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms,"
In the ongoing saga of my conflict with my child's teacher I've had to remind myself of this verse over and over. The teacher is not the enemy, though at times it seems she is. The truth is that she is a child of God with whom I'm disagreeing with.
Lysa says, "In God's economy, people don't stand on opposing sides of the conflict scale. People stand on 1 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…The secret to healthy conflict resolution isn't taking a you-against-me stance but realizing it's all of us against Satan - he's the real enemy!"
Reading this paragraph a couple weeks ago was eye-opening for me. When I point fingers, blaming the teacher, I'm helping Satan's work. WHY would I want to do that?! The thing is, I don't. I want him to lose and lose BIG!
So, what should I do instead? First, I need to remember the truth from Ephesians 6:12 - she's not the enemy - Satan is. My struggle isn't with her. It's with my sinful self and Satan. Second, I need to remember who she is - a daughter of the King! She's my sister in Christ! And last, I need to talk with her and talk about her with respect and in love. I'm to listen to her, not be thinking about what I want to say next. I'm to pray for her - BOY, that's a hard one! And I'm to show love to her, even though it's difficult!!
In the ongoing saga of my conflict with my child's teacher I've had to remind myself of this verse over and over. The teacher is not the enemy, though at times it seems she is. The truth is that she is a child of God with whom I'm disagreeing with.
Lysa says, "In God's economy, people don't stand on opposing sides of the conflict scale. People stand on 1 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…The secret to healthy conflict resolution isn't taking a you-against-me stance but realizing it's all of us against Satan - he's the real enemy!"
Reading this paragraph a couple weeks ago was eye-opening for me. When I point fingers, blaming the teacher, I'm helping Satan's work. WHY would I want to do that?! The thing is, I don't. I want him to lose and lose BIG!
So, what should I do instead? First, I need to remember the truth from Ephesians 6:12 - she's not the enemy - Satan is. My struggle isn't with her. It's with my sinful self and Satan. Second, I need to remember who she is - a daughter of the King! She's my sister in Christ! And last, I need to talk with her and talk about her with respect and in love. I'm to listen to her, not be thinking about what I want to say next. I'm to pray for her - BOY, that's a hard one! And I'm to show love to her, even though it's difficult!!