"The single biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place." ~ George Bernard Shaw
Final installment in Confronting Conflict and after spending 3 weeks preparing our hearts and our minds to address conflict, we finally delved into the actual process/methodology of speaking the truth in love.
That process is based on the "5 skills and 2 tudes (attitudes)" of Critical Conversation. What are those skills and attitudes?
“Nothing in this world is good or bad, but thinking makes it so.” ~ William Shakespeare
Ever feel like you aren't in control of your emotions, but rather your emotions are in control of you? Do find yourself saying things like "he makes me so mad..." or "she left me no choice but to..."
If so, then you need to check out Part 3 in Confronting Conflict: "MASTERING YOUR STORIES."
In this week's message, we talked about how our emotions are not as out-of-control as we think. We can influence how we feel and it isn't as hard as it sounds. All it takes is understanding the role of "stories" and how you can control your emotions by controlling your stories.
To After a week off due to last week's blizzard, we're back in action at The Well with Part 2 in the CONFRONTING CONFLICT series, titled "START WITH THE HEART".
The main point of this week's message was that the first priority in facing conflict needs to be: ME FIRST, US SECOND. In other words, I need to examine myself - my motivation, my goal, what I want out of this conversation - before I look at the person in front of me in the conversation. ME first, US second.
We also talked about how to properly diagnose when a conversation has moved from "casual" to "critical" and what that means.
Yesterday was Friends & Family Day at The Well and to celebrate, we kicked off a brand new series called CONFRONTING CONFLICT.
Why are we talking about conflict? Because a) life is all about relationships and b) you can't have relationships with conflict. It's inevitable!
How many marriages are broken because of a conflict mishandled? How many parents wish they could "go back" and respond differently? How many friendships end suddenly because of a conflict that arose suddenly and wasn't handled properly?
The goal of this series is to learn how to face conflict head on - in a godly, Christlike manner. Check out Part 1 above and get ready to change your outlook on conflict.
