Broken relationships
IN MY OPINION
“Relationship” comes from the Latin “referre” or “relatum”, which means “to bring back”.
In one of my penultimate columns, I tried to explain, “when to keep our mouth shut”! Silence is also an answer – sure! But some of my readers posed the question, if also broken relationships can be only restored by silence or waiting. My answer is YES and/or NO!
Sometimes, it’s a miracle what a small dose of determined silence can do. Relationships are ALWAYS worth restoring, because life is all about learning how to love and how to value relationships and make the effort to maintain them instead of discarding them whenever there is a rift, a hurt, or a conflict. The bible told us that all of us have been given the ministry of restoring broken relationships.
Broken or cooled down relationships can be noticed at any corner. Restoring them is equal to peacemaking or peacekeeping but also not avoiding facing conflicts. Running away from a problem (and then keep the mouth shut!), pretending that the problem doesn’t exist or being to afraid to talk about it, that’s how the hypocritical coward acts.
I always love to talk to God before I talk to a person. Later, I can find the right moment and take the initiative to restore broken relationships or face the problem. I can even look out for others’ interests first. I can use “my telescope of life” (from the Greek word “skopos”) and play close attention. I can start with sympathy but not with great solutions right away. I can confess my part of a possible conflict.
Paul said in Romans 12:18: “Do everything possible on your part to live in peace with everybody!” In resolving conflicts, a word not be spoken may be the choicest word of all, or IF WE TALK, HOW we say it, is important.
The US-author Rick Warren confessed in one of his books; “We can establish a relationship even when we are unable to resolve our differences. Christians often have legitimate, honest disagreements and differing opinions ( as I wrote in my last Friday’s column here!). But, we can disagree without being disagreeable. The same diamond looks different from different angles. God expects unity, not uniformity, and, we can walk arm-in-arm without seeing eye-to-eye on every issue!”
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Email: doringklaus@gmail.com or follow me in Facebook or Twitter or visit www.germanexpatinthephilippines.blogspot.com or www.klausdoringsclassicalmausic.blogspot.com
