Devotion of the day: a prayer against disagreements

"A friend always loves." - Proverbs 17:17

Unfortunately, during the political elections, we have witnessed the collapse of adults among friends and relatives who have found it difficult, if not impossible, to disagree politically and remain friends. I have family members who keep their distance because I'm a Christian. You probably do too. We are all entitled to our beliefs, but it shouldn't end our relationship, friendship or family ties. Friendships should be a safe place to disagree. If you have a lot of friends, you will have a variety of different opinions. You can learn from each other.

In the small group of our couples, we start some heavy exchanges of views, but we always know that at the end of the group we will pray, have a cake and a coffee together and leave as friends. After an evening of particularly heated discussions, one person prayed to be grateful that we respected each other enough to be able to express our thoughts openly, but still maintain our friendships. We are still friends in Christ, even though we disagree on some spiritual matters. We disagree because we want the other person to acknowledge that we are right. Sometimes we are more interested in being right than "our truth" in helping the other person. My niece was trying to share Jesus with two friends of different faiths, and they ended up at odds. I asked my niece if her motivation was compassion for her friend's salvation or a desire to be right. If it were their salvation, she would have to talk passionately about how much she loved Jesus and he loved her. If he just wanted to be right, he probably focused more on how wrong their faith was and that drove them crazy. He agreed that it would be far more effective in showing them the love of Jesus than trying to win an argument. Our friends and family will know the love of our Jesus through the love we show them.

Pray with me: Lord, Satan is trying with all his might to divide your house and your people. We pray to the Lord with all our strength that we do not allow this to happen. Let us remember that a divided house cannot hold Help us to be peacemakers in our relationships, friendships and families, without bending or compromising the Truth. And Lord, if it is to be that there are those who choose to no longer be our friends or in relationship with us, look against a bitter heart and remind us to pray for a softening of their heart. In the name of Jesus, we pray. Amen.