Disagreements (and Gossip)

One thing I've been learning recently is how to deal with disagreements. I've decided to use the Bible as a model for what I should do... which is really what I should do with everything in the Bible. It's a letter from God and a guide to life. The verses that we should all use when dealing with conflicts among the brethren (or even among those who aren't "brethren") are found in Matthew chapter 18. Jesus is speaking in Matthew 18:15-17 (KJV), "Moreover if thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone: if he shall hear thee, thou hast gained the brother. But if he will not hear thee, then take with thee one or two more, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established. And if he shall neglect to hear them, tell it unto the church: but if he neglect to hear the church, let him be unto thee as a heathen man and a publican." Basically, when you have problem with someone, go to them PERSONALLY. Don't go talk about the problem with 5 other people before you say anything to them. If that works and he corrects his fault, great! You've "gained the brother." If not, then you are to get a group to talk together this time and get all of the facts straight. That's why you bring in more people... not to just gossip about it, but to figure out the truth. And then, if it's not resolved with the group, that's when it should be taken to the church. In the secular world, this is when you would want to seek help for someone outside of their friends or family.

I know that it can be hard to handle problems in this fashion. As humans, we just want to go complain to others and gossip about what we thought happened. We sometimes let our feelings get in the way of what is right and refuse to see the truth of the matter. It all boils down to what is right and what is wrong, and I believe that the Bible is right. Scratch believe, I KNOW the Bible is right. God's inspired words on pages are what we should strive to live our lives by. Many of the rules/laws we have today are based in Bible verses and customs of that time period, so why not go the extra mile and try to live by it as closely as possible? I'm challenging myself to resist complaining to others when I have a problem with someone. That leads to gossip, and gossip is wrong. Hopefully you can do the same, and remember that people make mistakes, and you don't always know the truth when you base it completely on hearsay.