Our world is changing at a break-neck pace. Social media has been a huge player in this change, even changing the ways we relate to each other. One change of which I am not a fan is the ever-popular social media “disagreement.” I believe it has influenced our society in a tremendous way. In an extremely negative way.
It plays out in disagreements over sports teams (professional teams, college, and even high school and little league athletics). It drifts into political discussions (of which I am convinced should be done more face-to-face and less in the one-dimensional world of the internet.) And it is a heavy player in the ever popular court of public opinion and being politically correct.
And here we are. We have become a world that cannot handle the thought that our friends could possibly disagree with us. We cannot conceive that others might have another opinion or idea about areas in which we are most passionate. And we become less and less able to walk away, and more likely to pick a fight and then lose a friend. WHAT HAVE WE BECOME??
I learned a long time ago that opinions are like noses … Every one has at least one, and each one is a little different. And I might not agree on everything with my friends. AND THAT IS OKAY. If I only seek friends who agree with me on everything in life, life would be boring and uneventful.
Yes, my friends, it is fine to actually care about and love those who are not just like me. Who perhaps do not agree with me on everything I believe. And I do not have to change them. And I do not have to force them into a mold of my making. (TRUE CHANGE is a work of the Holy Spirit. If there is a spiritual issue at hand, the best thing I can do is LOVE, show them Christ and allow HIM to work on them. And resolve myself to NOT be a hindrance to that.)
Even two giants in the early church, Paul and Barnabas, disagreed over a situation so sharply that they had to part ways (read about it in Acts 15). But they agreed to disagree and God used BOTH of them to build His kingdom.
You and I decide how we respond. How we get along with others. How much our pride will influence our lives, and how much we live at war… and at peace.
Romans 12:18 says “If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.”
Give peace a chance!!
The Random Thinker 