HANDLING BULLIES

Remember the fights in school? Remember how everybody would gather around and watch and encourage their friends? When I was in school, I was not a fighter. I didn’t get in trouble many times for fighting, but the few times I did, I was not the one who started the fight. I remember one fight I had with a guy named Robert. I don’t remember why the fight started, but I do remember that wrestling move he used on me. I’ll never forget it. He grabbed my arms from the front, and fell backward on the ground, pulling me down with him. At the same time, he put both of his feet on my stomach and flipped me over his head onto the ground behind him. It knocked the breath right out of me.

Mrs. Brauner saw us and came to break up the fight. It was already over, but she did her duty and told us to go clean up, then come to the Library for our paddling. As Robert and I walked together to the restroom, he said we should put a bunch of toilet paper in our pants to keep the paddling from hurting so bad, so that’s what I did. I went into one of the stalls and packed my underwear, full, and I assumed he did, too. Then, we both walked together down the long hallway to the library to take our punishment. I don’t think the toilet paper helped any. If it did, I would have hated to take that paddling without it. It hurt! Good old Robert. He tried to help. What’s funny is, we became friends after that.

There was another kid there who rode our bus. He was always poking fun at me and one of my sisters, laughing and talking about our zits. We actually had the acne disease. I had it all over my face and chest, but she had it on her face, chest, and back. We had to go to the doctor regularly to get medication for it, but it didn’t do much good. Not a day went by that he didn’t harass us about it. It got old, but there was nothing we could do about it.

I know you’ve heard “What goes around comes around.” Karma, or whatever it may be. After elementary school, I didn’t see him for a few years. He was a teenager the next time I saw him, and his face was so full of zits you probably couldn’t put your finger on his face without touching one. I wasn’t a Christian then so I actually laughed, and said, “That’s what he gets for making fun of us.”

There were two or three times in school when I was bullied by another student. One of those times was by a kid named Tommy. He would sit behind me on the school bus and flick my ear. The first few times, he acted like it wasn’t him, but after I knew it was, he would do it and laugh about it. Later, he started doing it and getting other kids to laugh about it.

Then one day, I had had enough. When he flicked my ear, I turned around in my seat and yelled at him to leave me alone. I guess he didn’t like that, so he grabbed both of my ears and slammed his head into my head three times as hard as he could. It hurt so bad it made me cry. After that day, we got along pretty good, and he never bothered me again. I guess he got it out of his system.

There was another bully name Daniel. He would do all kinds of stuff to me just to aggravate me. I don’t remember all the stuff he did. He was just bullying me around all the time, so I told the teacher. Well, I don’t know what the teacher did or what he said to Daniel, but we were headed out to the gym after lunch the next day and he flipped my hair from behind as he ran past me. Then he turned around and walked beside me and said, “Whatchu gonna do, tell the teacher again?” That kind of stuff continued until the end of the year school year.

Then, while we were out of school for the summer, he came to visit some boys from school who lived in my neighborhood. I had no problem with them. They were alright. They would come and visit once in a while, and sometimes we would hang out on the weekend. They came over that weekend, and Daniel was with them.

We were all just standing around talking then I did something dumb. I don’t know why. Maybe I felt safe in my own yard or something like that. I don’t know, but I threw a pack of mayonnaise on the ground beside the bully and stomped it. It squirted out onto his pants. I remember him grabbing me, but the next thing I knew I was on top of him on the ground beating him in the face with my fist. I got up off him and stood on my porch feeling like I had paid him back as he walked away with the other two boys. When school started back, he didn’t bother me, and he never bothered me again.

Fighting is not always the answer. It should never be the answer, but unfortunately, we’re not always left with much of a choice. We humans can only take so much bullying before we break and want to fight back. That’s one reason so many young people snap and go shoot a bunch of other kids. I hear of so much bullying in schools today, and the teachers and parents refuse to do anything about it, but when the victim retaliates, they get into trouble.

Look what the Apostle Paul said in Romans 12:18. “If possible, you should live peacefully with everyone.” That’s the best route to go, but it’s not always a popular one. It’s not what most people choose to do. In Romans 12:2, Paul said, “Do not conform to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so you may test and see what God considers good, and acceptable, and perfect.” In other words, Don’t be like everybody else. Be converted and find out what is good in God’s eyes and do that.

In verse 17 Paul said, “Do not repay anyone for evil with evil. Do good in the presence of everyone.” In verse 21 he said, “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.” How do we do that? He gives us a great example in verse 14; He says, “Speak well of those who persecute you; Speak well, and do not condemn.” In Matthew 5:44-45, Jesus said, “Love your enemies. Bless those who curse you. Do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you, and persecute you, so that you may be the children of your Father who is in heaven.” Back in Romans 12:20, Paul said, “If your enemy is hungry, feed them. If they thirst, give them something to drink. By doing this, you will pile up coals of fire on their head.” This “fire” may have one of two results. It may melt their heart, and you may gain a friend. Abraham Lincoln once said, “Do I not destroy my enemy, when I make him my friend?”

On the other hand, some bullies don’t respond well to kindness from their victims. Your kindness may make them angry or they may confuse your kindness for weakness and continue bullying you. Continue to pray for them. God will take care of it in his own way, and time. Look what Paul tells us in verse 19. He said, “Dear loved ones, do not avenge yourselves. Leave that to God: because it is written, “the LORD says, Vengeance is mine; I will repay.”

We must practice obeying God’s word to the fullest, no matter how uncomfortable it may be at first. God knows what’s best, always. We need to trust him and pray for grace and strength to obey. We have to start now. If we’re not fully committed to God and his ways now, we certainly won’t be able to obey him when persecution comes to us. So commit to him now, and pray without ceasing. “Those who stand firm to the end will be saved.” (Matthew 10:22)

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WHERE WAS THE TV GOING?

Almost every morning on my way to work, I see the same little gray car headed East as I drive West. I guess I see a lot of the same cars every day, but I don’t really pay that much attention to them. Most cars these days look so similar that not many stand out. I probably notice the little gray Chevette because it’s an older, unique, car, and I had one exactly like it when I was younger, but this story is not about either of those cars. Let me explain.

Early, one Autumn morning, I was driving to work as usual. I was in the right Westbound lane, listening to the radio, minding my own business when a car slowly started to pass me in the left Westbound lane. I don’t even know what kind of car it was, now that I think about it. I think it was gray, but I’m not even sure about that. Something else grabbed my attention and that’s all I could focus on at the time. As the car advanced from beside me, I looked over as it slowly passed by. As I looked at the car, I noticed there was a big wide-screen TV box in the back seat.

As the car slowly faded from my sight, I began to wonder about a few things. Where were they going? Where were they coming from? Was the TV, brand new? Were they taking it home to set it up or were they returning it to the store where they purchased it? Were they taking it to be repaired? Was there even a TV in the box? Was it just an empty box they were using for something else? The questions seemed endless.

I thought this lingering interest in the TV box was a little strange myself, and you may think I’m a complete nut, but I kept thinking about it and drew some interesting parallels and conclusions.

We all see people every day headed down the road of life. We usually have no idea where they’re going nor where they’ll end up. Most of us probably don’t think twice about them unless they affect us somehow. We don’t know how rocky the road they’re on really is. We don’t even know which road they’re on; the narrow road that leads to heaven or the wide road that leads to hell. Some would say that’s nobody’s business, but if we’re Christians, we have a responsibility to them, and to God, to reach out to them and make sure they know that there’s a heaven to gain, and a hell to shun. Many unsaved people have no idea that by not choosing Jesus, they’re choosing Satan by default. Jesus said, “Whoever is not with me is against me” (Matthew 12:30). There’s no middle ground.

So, take an interest in people; where they go, and what they do. What’s going on in their lives and in their families? Not to judge them, or gossip about them, but to know what their situation is. To understand what their immediate, personal needs are, and how we can help them; Be kind. Be a friend. Then you’ll know what, and how to be praying for them. You’ll find out their immediate situation, and their spiritual condition. Are they saved? Do they have a relationship with Jesus or are they bound for hell fire? Again, not to judge or gossip, but to help them.

Prayer is the most important thing you can do for anybody, but don’t stop there. Have you ever heard the phrase, “People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care?” That’s an interesting statement, and it’s certainly true. Many people think they have everything figured out. They think that knowing and believing that “there IS a God” is the same as “knowing God”, but that’s not the case at all. We get to know God by reading his word and communicating with him through prayer.

Many people miss what Jesus told Nicodemus that night so long ago. He said, “Everyone must be born again” (John 3:3-7). Referring to this, Paul said we are changed, and become a new creature (2 Corinthians 5:17). We’re recreated or “born again.” When we’re born again, our past sins are forgiven, and the Holy Spirit comes to live in our minds to lead and guide us and change us. That’s what we all need. It’s what we must all have if we want that eternal life to spend with Jesus. If you don’t have eternal life yet, please, turn to Jesus today and be saved. He’s eagerly waiting to give you the peace and comfort of salvation.

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DO YOU KNOW SO-AND-SO?

When I was young, there was a little country store in a place called Hatchie Bottom, in Goose Pond, Mississippi. It was just down the road from Union Center. The owner’s name was Early Crum, and his wife’s name was Short. No lie. No joke. That was actually their names. They were old even when I was young. They had retired and sold the store by the time I was a teenager. My cousin Tim and I did some work for Early one year while we were out of school for the summer.

Soon summer was over and we were back in school. I had a friend named Lisa Crum. Since she had the same name as Early and his wife, I wondered if she was related to them. So one evening on the school bus, as we were going home, I asked her a simple question. Do you know Short and Early? She said, “No, but I know long and late.” We both laughed until tears came to our eyes. I’ve been telling that story now for over 30 years, and it always gets a laugh.

Many times when I meet someone who has the same last name as another person I know, I’ll often ask them if they know So-and-So. It’s a good conversation starter, and the conversation can go on for a while if they actually do know the person.

When I was a young Christian, our church youth leaders taught us to start a conversation directly to the point by saying, “Do you know Jesus?” Well over the years, I’ve discovered that most people’s answer is yes, even though their lifestyle says the opposite, so I realized that many of them were saying they know Jesus because they know of him or about him. To truly assess the situation, a better question would be “Have you been born again?" 

We don't hear many people talking about being born again, but Jesus told Nicodemus that a person can't go the heaven otherwise (John 3:3). Because Adam sinned in the garden, we are born sinners, so we have to be born again. 

However we want to start our conversations with others, the point is, we do need to start a conversation. We need to be telling people about Jesus in some form or another. If we truly know Jesus, we should be spreading the good news about his love and sacrifice for all mankind.

When Andrew met Jesus, he went and told his brother, Peter, and the Bible says, “he brought him to Jesus” (John 1:41-42). When Philip met Jesus, he found Nathanael, and told him about Jesus, then brought him to Jesus (John 1:43-46). When the Samaritan woman at the well met Jesus, she went back to her city and told the people about Jesus and invited them to “come and see” him (John 4:28-29). That’s the biblical model. That’s what every born-again believer should be doing. When we know Jesus, we should want to tell others about him and bring them to him.

Some Christians are not as outspoken as others, and some have a hard time starting a conversation. It takes practice, but you have to start somewhere. There are many ways to witness to others, and there are many tools to help you start. You can begin by giving them a tract, a book, or a DVD or you can share a link with them to a video or a meme that has blessed you. The key is to share Jesus with others like the people in the Bible did. The more you do it the easier it will become, and you will be blessed by it as well, and many who might otherwise be lost forever may spend eternity in the kingdom of heaven because of you. That would be awesome.

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A LESSON FROM TRASH

When I was a young man, I worked for a company that employed about 300 people. They had a cost reduction program where they encouraged each employee to find ways to save the company money, and each employee whose cost reduction was implemented would receive a bonus at the end of the year.

One year, one of my friends turned in a cost reduction concerning trash collection for the building. One of the trash disposal companies in the area had a trash compactor there. It had been there for several years. They charged $50.00 each time they emptied it, which was usually about once a week. This cost the company an average of $200.00 each month, or about $2,400.00 a year.

My friend found another company that would bring their trash compactor to our building, and only charge us $35.00 each time they dumped it. This would save our company $15.00 each week. So it would only cost $140.00 a month, which would only be $1,680.00 a year. That would be a savings of about $720.00 a year.

His cost reduction was accepted and implemented. The old trash company removed its compactor and the new company brought theirs in. That’s when we realized that the new one was smaller than the old one so it had to be emptied more often. This piece of information was not incorporated into the equation for reducing the cost of trash removal. Now, instead of paying $200.00 a month for four dumps, the company was paying $210.00 for 6 dumps a month. More than before with more hassle with having to call when it filled up and having to wait for them to come and pick it up, and waiting for them to bring it back before we could remove any trash from the building. The fact that the new container was smaller was a very important factor that was left out of the equation because my friend did not have all the information he needed in order to make an informed decision.

I’ve always taught my children that you have to have all the information to make an informed decision. So you have to be sure to ask all the right questions, and when telling someone else something, you need to make sure you give them every ounce of information you possibly can so they can make an informed decision.

I’m afraid this is what is happening in our churches today when people ignore part of the Bible. Many don’t think you need the Old testament. Many have been taught that the Old Testament is not relevant for Christians today. This is the book that God gave to his people. This is the word of God. The complete book; the Old and New Testaments.

There are many things in the Old Testament that build the foundation for the New Testament, and without all that information, you cannot understand the New Testament correctly.

Jesus, and the other New Testament writers quoted from the Old Testament many, many times. There are hundreds of prophecies in the Old Testament concerning both the first and second coming of Jesus. The Old Covenant is there, which is the foundation of the New Covenant in the New Testament. For more on that subject, read my study called “The Old And New Covenant.”

2 Timothy 3:16-17 says, ALL scripture is inspired by God, and is helpful for teaching, for evidence, for correction, and for instruction in righteousness: So that the followers of God may grow to maturity, and be fully equipped for all good works.

ALL SCRIPTURE includes the Old Testament. Here are a few more examples:

1 Corinthians 10:11 says the things that happened in the old days were examples for us in the end times and were written down as warnings to us.

Jude 1:7, and 2 Peter 2:6 tell us that the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, and the cities around them were recorded in the Old Testament as an example of eternal fire and what will happen to those who live ungodly lives.

Romans 15:1 says the things written in the Old Testament were written for our instruction, so that, through patience, and the comfort of the scriptures, we might have hope.

So, I encourage you to read the Old Testament. It is a great work on the creation of the world and mankind. It contains the history of God’s people and his dealings with them over a few thousand years. It tells us the history of the ancestors of our Lord, Jesus. We must realize that the Old Testament is part of this complete book that God has preserved for his people for thousands of years. He didn’t preserve it for no reason. He preserved it for us to study, and to understand his purpose for us, and his great love for us. It’s all God’s word from beginning to end, and all of it is important.

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NO CHICKEN FOR ME PLEASE

When I was around nine or ten years old, I lived in the small town of Theo, Mississippi with my grandmother, and two of my younger sisters. The town was only a few square miles in size, so we could walk to the store, or walk to visit our aunt or any of the neighbors my grandmother decided to visit. We didn’t have a car, but our aunt did, so if we needed to go outside our little community, she would take us.

One day, we walked to the store, and on our way back home, we stopped to visit one of the neighbors who was friends with my grandmother. They had known each other for many years.

She was cooking the next meal for her family so she invited us inside to visit while she cooked.

She asked my grandmother if we would like to stay, and eat with them. My grandmother thanked her for the invitation and accepted it. I was thinking, sure, okay, I’m a little hungry. I could eat something. She said, “We’re having chicken. Shake ‘n Bake chicken.” She had my attention because I loved chicken.

We were good kids, at least in other people’s homes. We were taught to be quiet and not interrupt while grownups were talking, so we sat still and were quiet, for the most part, as the adults talked, and laughed.

Then she started to prepare the chicken to cook. Back then, I don’t remember ever seeing chicken pre-cut, so the chicken was whole, and you had to cut it up yourself before cooking, so that’s what she did first. Then she washed the pieces of chicken and put them in a bowl.

Then, she put the Shake ‘n Bake mix in the bag and dropped a few pieces of chicken into the mix. Then, she proceeded to put the bag to her mouth and blow into it like a balloon filling it with air from her mouth. Then she started shaking it to coat the chicken with the breading.

“Oh, God! Help me, Jesus! Please get me out of here” That’s kind of what I was screaming in my mind. There was no way I was going to eat that chicken after what I just saw. I couldn’t tell them I didn’t want to eat it because I thought what she did was nasty, but I couldn’t even imagine eating it. So I told my grandmother I wanted to go home. I insisted and persisted. I told her I didn’t feel good, and I really didn’t after what I had just witnessed. I begged her, “Please, let’s go home. Please.” I begged, and pled with her until she finally gave in, and we went home.

In Luke 18:1-8, Jesus told a parable about a Persistent Widow. In verse 1, he tells us the meaning of the parable is that we should always pray and not give up until we get an answer.

1 Thessalonians 5:17, says to “pray without stopping.” We need to be in a constant state of prayer. We need to keep our connection with God open at all times, not only when we need something or want something. He’s always there, so we can talk to him all day long just like we would with any other friend.

We may not always get the answer we want, and the answer may not come immediately, but when we have some specific need, we should keep asking until he answers us.

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CATS, RATS, SNAKES, AND BOBCATS

When I was young, my aunt had a well in her backyard. It was the kind you have to lower a bucket down into and draw up the water. She built a shed over it connecting it to the house, then she closed it in with tin siding. She stored a few things in there like firewood, gardening tools, and miscellaneous things she didn’t want in the house. She left the ground for the floor and eventually, the grass all died and it was a dirt floor.

One day, I noticed several large holes in the ground behind the kitchen. They were tunnels leading under the house. There were big piles of dirt in front of them where something big had been digging. I asked my aunt what it was and she said it was Gopher Rat holes. Then, my uncle said the rats were so big that he had to use a stick of firewood to kill them.

My aunt had several cats and dogs over the years with weird names. She had a cat named Blackie, and one named Brownie, because of their color. She had a cat named Tom because he was a Tomcat, and a dog named Snowball because he was white and fluffy.

There was a rectangular hole in the floor under the kitchen sink where the big drain pipe ran under the floor. It was big enough for the cats to climb through, so my aunt put a piece of wood there like a ramp to make it easier for the cats to come in and go out of the house. Her cats were not the only thing that could come through the hole, and they weren’t the only things that did.

One day, we were at her house and she went into the kitchen for something. All of a sudden, we heard an awful commotion and she started yelling. Of course, we all ran to see what was going on. There on the floor by the stove and the back door was a big, long, black snake and it was squirming all over the floor trying to get away from the broom she was hitting it with. For some reason, I don’t remember if she killed it or if it got away, probably because we ran out of there.

I also found a baby mouse there one time by that stove behind the door. It didn’t have any hair and it was so cute, but knowing what they grow up to become, my grandmother wouldn’t let me keep it. She told me to put it back where I got it because the mother was probably looking for it.

My aunt told us about another time she went into the kitchen and found an uninvited guest. She said she got up one morning and went to make coffee and found a bobcat sitting there eating her cat’s food. Of course, he ran back under the sink and escaped through the hole her cats went in and out of. She said he came in several times. I wanted her to catch it so I could have it as a pet, but she said, “That thing’s wild. It’ll tear you all to pieces.” She said she prepared some hot water to dash on the bobcat one morning, so he would stop coming in and eating her cat’s food, and after she did that, it never came back again. I thought that was mean of her, but I think it can be a good spiritual lesson.

Sometimes sin sneaks into our lives. But, we don’t always recognize it as sin because we've let our guard down. Sin is often disguised as something other than what it truly is. Sometimes, it keeps coming back again and again. Maybe we need to dash some hot water on it and get it out of our lives for good.

The Bible says that God is able to keep us from sinning (Jude 1:24). We need that close, personal relationship with Jesus, and the Holy Spirit living in our minds to lead, and guide us. Staying in constant contact with God is a very important part of that relationship (1 Thessalonians 5:17). That includes listening as well as talking. It’s a relationship between created human beings and our loving Creator. What a beautiful relationship.

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FIRECRACKERS, CIGARETTES, AND GOD

When I was a kid, my grandmother put an empty milk jug in the fork of a small tree in front of our house, to keep birds away, if I remember correctly. I loved firecrackers and she would buy me some once in a while. I was going to light one and drop it into the jug to see if anything close to what I was imagining would happen. So, I lit the firecracker with a match, then started to drop it into the jug, but before I could let it go, it exploded, making my ears ring, and making my fingers black, and throbbing with pain. I had a ringing in my right ear for the rest of the day. Lesson learned.

I was a very impressionable child. I had so many ideas, but such low self-esteem. I didn’t like who I was, so I wanted to be like others. When my sister got glasses, I wanted glasses.

I also wanted a cast on my arm. Maybe because our preacher’s son had one. It was a short one that only went about halfway up his forearm. I thought it was cool, so maybe that’s why I wanted one. Like I told one of my friends when I was telling this story to them, I was the dumbest kid that I have ever known in my entire life, and you’ll probably agree with me when I tell you this next thing. I wanted a cast on my arm so bad that I tried to break my own arm. It embarrasses me right now just telling you this, but it’s important.

Remember that small tree with the fork in our front yard? Well, I put my arm in the fork and tried bending it back in order to break it. See what I mean? I was a dumb kid. Thankfully, I chickened out and gave up. To this day, I’ve never had a broken bone, unless you count my fractured skull when I was in elementary school.

I really liked the preacher’s son and looked up to him. I thought he was so cool. He must have really been, because all the other kids at church thought he was, too. He dipped, so I wanted to dip. My grandmother bought me a can of Skoal and gave it to me. I tried to taste it a few times, but it smelled awful. When I finally taste it, it was awful, so I just walked around with it in my back pocket for a few weeks, then I gave up the idea. I tasted chewing tobacco by sticking it to my tongue, and it was not good at all, so I didn’t try anything like that again.

My aunts and uncles smoked cigarettes. My mother smoked Prince Albert tobacco that had to be rolled up in papers. She rolled three for me, put them in a can half full of tobacco, and gave me some papers and some matches. I walked around with those for a few days and never even let one. Eventually, I gave that idea up as well.

As a kid, I did and wanted to do some things that were not healthy for me, but there were several things I wanted to do that were good. I wanted to be a firefighter, a police officer, and a preacher, among many other things. I guess I wasn’t completely full of bad ideas.

As I look back on those days, I can see how God worked to guide me in the right direction, although I left the path several times in pursuit of things that were not good for me. I’m thankful for those experiences because they help me now to kind of understand how other people can make bad decisions in life.

I thank God for the good and wise people that he put in my life when I was growing up. I’m so thankful for my grandmother teaching me about Jesus and helping me to learn to love his holy word, the Bible. When I look back to my childhood, I see how much my thoughts and ideas have improved, and that gives me hope for the future. With God, all things are possible (Matthew 19:26).

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READ BETWEEN THE LINES

When I was in school, there was a popular saying going around among the students. “Read Between The Lines.” As you said the words, you held up three fingers with the middle finger being in the middle of the other two, like three lines. When you read between the lines you would discover you were being given the middle finger.

That was a childish game, but I’ve seen adults use it and I used it myself into my late teens, occasionally. But there’s an adult version still kicking around today, but it is a little different. Something is said, and someone else “reads between the lines.” What that means is they’re discovering what the person who spoke really meant but didn’t actually say.

Now occasionally, there are instances where people will say something with camouflaged or hidden meanings that they want someone to know without actually having to say it plainly, but most of the time, when we read between the lines we’re not discovering anything new or extra that the person was thinking but didn’t say, we’re only thinking they said something they didn’t say and didn’t even think.

When we read between the lines, we’re actually projecting our own thoughts and feelings into something someone else said. It’s very likely that what we think we’re discovering between the lines is only our thinking, and has absolutely nothing to do with what the person actually said or thought. In reality, most of the time, I think we’re actually discovering what we think, and feel about the subject being presented.

You may not think you have ever been guilty of reading between the lines because you didn’t think that was what you were doing at the time, but have you ever had someone say to you “That’s not what I said?” You misunderstood what they said. Maybe that was an instance of reading between the lines.

I’ve actually been on both sides of this subject where I thought someone meant something they didn’t mean when they actually didn’t, and I’ve had people think something I said meant something it didn’t mean when I was talking. Our reaction in a situation like this can actually ruin relationships, friendships, and family ties.

So, in the future, let’s think about that before we read between the lines and if we think someone meant something they didn’t actually say, we should talk about it and discuss it with them, in a kind loving way. Not in a mean-spirited manner or a condescending way. We need to be kind, always. Sometimes I’m sure we’ll actually find that they did mean what we thought they meant but didn’t actually say, but most of the time, I think we’ll find that they didn’t mean anything more than what they actually said. We can preserve our relationships by discussing misunderstandings in a respectful, loving way.

Let’s not leave God out of the situation either. Always pray before you talk to someone about some conflict, and make sure God is with you to help with what you say, and how you react. Relationships are very important, so we have to be intentional in preserving them.

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