HOW TO RESOLVE PERSONAL CONFLICTS

Text- 2 Corinthians 13:5-14

Introduction

This morning the topic of my message is on “conflict” and the title is, “How To Resolve Personal Conflicts”. And our text is found in 2 Corinthians 13:5-14.

Conflict is a word that needs no definition.  It is familiar to us through our personal experiences.  Conflict can be seen all around us.

On a global scale, conflict can be seen between Gorbachev and President Reagan, Iran and Iraq, and Apartheid in South Africa.

On the home front conflict is evident everywhere, and can be seen through marriages ending in divorce, teenagers running away from home, young people committing suicide and child abuse.

Conflict is a part of life.

As a New Testament church and individual children of God we are not immune to conflict.

Here in our text we find Paul speaking to the church in Corinth.  Perhaps there is no other church within the Bible that experienced as much conflict as this one did.

If you read 1st and 2nd Corinthians you will find four major conflicts that existed within this church.

• Conflicts over doctrine.


• Conflicts over eating meat that was offered to idols.


• Conflicts over moral behavior.-- Paul speaks of a man who was living with his father’s wife.


• Conflicts over the Lord’s Supper.  Some of the church members were turning it into a drunken, glutenous feast.

By the end of 2nd Corinthians the disagreements between Paul and the Corinthians had degenerated to the point that the church was challenging Paul’s apostleship and questioning his authority to teach them.

The conflicts between Paul and the Corinthians had become a “personality dispute”.

And so often this is the same thing that happens when we have conflicts today; they become personal.

This morning I would like us to look at a formula that Paul used to resolve his conflicts with the Corinthians that can also be used by us today to resolve our conflicts.