“Now I appeal to Euodia and Syntyche. Please, because you belong to the Lord, settle your disagreement. And I ask you, my true partner, to help these two women, for they worked hard with me in telling others the Good News.” — Philippians 4:2-3 (NLT)
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My husband and I are in a season of life that just seems like chaos — four teenagers and a lot of sports being played, including travel basketball and soccer. If you are in that world, you know people can be crazy at these tournaments. The question we must ask is: How do we as Christian parents reflect Christ when it seems like nobody else is?
Philippians 4:2-3 suggests a little tiff between two ladies, Euodia and Syntyche. These were women who were in the ministry with Paul, preaching the Good News about Jesus, but found themselves on different sides of the fence about something. Maybe over their kids’ playing time, team dinner or school? Well, probably not, but we can still learn from Paul’s encouragement: “Please, because you belong to the Lord, settle your disagreement” (Philippians 4:2, NLT).
There are always going to be disagreements — amongst coaching staff, players, fans and maybe even family or within a marriage. Having disagreements doesn’t change just because we are Christians, but how we handle the disagreements does change. There are things we do just “because we belong to the Lord.” We don’t just act different, we react different. The way we live, speak, and handle disagreements reflects where our focus is. As followers of Christ, our focus should be on Christ and not self.
Is this easy? Nope.
Is it possible? Absolutely.
Why? “Because we belong to the Lord.”
— Sarah Roberts, University of Oklahoma softball chaplain
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