How To Handle Difficult Relationships



Romans 12:9-10 Don’t just pretend to love others. Really love them. Hate what is wrong. Hold tightly to what is good. 10 Love each other with genuine affection, [e]  and take delight in honoring each other. (NLT)
Romans 12:14-16 - Bless those who persecute you. Don’t curse them; pray that God will bless them. 15 Be happy with those who are happy, and weep with those who weep. 16 Live in harmony with each other. Don’t be too proud to enjoy the company of ordinary people. And don’t think you know it all! (NLT)
Romans 12:18 If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. (NIV)



1. Own what you can own
Romans 12:18 If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. (NIV)
A. I can own my attitude
Proverbs 21:2 Every way of a man is right in his own eyes, but the LORD weighs the heart. (ESV)
B. I can own my own health
C. I can own my response
Proverbs 29:22 An angry person stirs up conflict, and a hot-tempered person commits many sins (NIV)
Proverbs 15:18 A hot-tempered person stirs up conflict, but the one who is patient calms a quarrel (NIV)
Proverbs 14:29 Whoever is patient has great understanding, but one who is quick-tempered displays folly (NIV)
Proverbs 29:11 Fools give full vent to their rage, but the wise bring calm in the end (NIV)



2. Trust God to help the other person
A. Always be quick to forgive them.
Ephesians 4:32 – Forgive one another as quickly and thoroughly as God in Christ forgave you. (MSG)
B. Always pray for God to help them.



Romans 12:14 - 14  Bless those who persecute you. Don’t curse them; pray that God will bless them. (NLT)
C. Never try to play the role of the Holy Spirit.



What about in marriage?
A. God does not like divorce
B. God’s Word makes provision for divorce when it’s needed
C. God can do miracles
Matthew 19:3-9 Some Pharisees came to him to test him. They asked, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any and every reason?” 4 “Haven’t you read,” he replied, “that at the beginning the Creator ‘made them male and female, 5 and said, ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh? 6 So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.” 7 “Why then,” they asked, “did Moses command that a man give his wife a certificate of divorce and send her away?” 8 Jesus replied, “Moses permitted you to divorce your wives because your hearts were hard. But it was not this way from the beginning. 9 I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another woman commits adultery.” (NIV)



1 Corinthians 7:10-16 To the married I give this command (not I, but the Lord): A wife must not separate from her husband. 11 But if she does, she must remain unmarried or else be reconciled to her husband. And a husband must not divorce his wife. 12 To the rest I say this (I, not the Lord): If any brother has a wife who is not a believer and she is willing to live with him, he must not divorce her. 13 And if a woman has a husband who is not a believer and he is willing to live with her, she must not divorce him.  14  For the unbelieving husband has been sanctified through his wife, and the unbelieving wife has been sanctified through her believing husband. Otherwise your children would be unclean, but as it is, they are holy. 15 But if the unbeliever leaves, let it be so. The brother or the sister is not bound in such circumstances; God has called us to live in peace. 16 How do you know, wife, whether you will save your husband? Or, how do you know, husband, whether you will save your wife? (NIV)