The second characteristic of the fruit of the Spirit (Gal 5:22) is ‘peace’ and for Christians it may be helpful to consider the idea of ‘letting go and letting God!’ Often the reason why we are not ‘at peace’ in situations is because we are holding the reigns too tightly as if that was the way to ensure we get our own way. Whether you get your own way or not is secondary to the attitude which we bring to any conflict situation. What we need to ensure we do in all circumstances is honour God and so ‘letting go and letting God’ is a good rule of thumb.

Three questions you may find helpful to ask yourself:

1. In conflict – have you thought about why the conflict has arisen?
2. How do you approach conflict – avoid it, embrace it or treat it as a godly challenge?
3. Above all, in whatever you do, do you honour God – in the home, in church, in the world?