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The world is filled with conflict. We can work for peace and pray for peace but there will never be complete peace because it is the nature of this earth and the nature of human beings to indulge in conflict. Unfortunately, the conflict we find in the world often spills over into our personal lives where it should not be. Our families and friends should be sources of healing, not hurt. When the world is too much with us and we take our hard knocks, it is our families and friends who should be there to support us and lift us up. Sadly, it is often our friends and family members with whom we have the most conflict and by whom we are hurt the most. The child who grows up in a family of conflicts where there is no place to turn for comfort and peace usually becomes a person of violence or self-destruction, turning to drugs or alcohol or perpetuating the circle of violence in his or her own home and family. Many who have been born into this dysfunctional lifestyle have found peace and healing in Jesus Christ.
We do not have to be in a violent or dysfunctional lifestyle to be deeply hurt by those we love. By loving, we open ourselves up to the possibility that those we love do not love us or that those who love us are not selfless in that love. If we choose not to love, in order not to be hurt, we choose not to follow Christ's admonition for our lives: A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. (John 13:34, KJV).
I find that love in my friends every day. They lift me up when I am down, they support me even when I need correction and they make me laugh, not only at my problems but at myself as well. They are my place of "peace" where I go when the world is too much. They are my gift from God that I am thankful for every single day. Go to your family and find the one who will love and support you in every way and go out into the world and find a friend who will do likewise. And if you cannot find a family member or a friend who will love and support you, do not despair…for Jesus Christ is your family member and your best friend, who will always be there for you. Get to know Him.
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