Everyone has had someone they didn’t get along with at work one time or another. But how are you supposed to handle conflict at work when the person is so hard to get along with? I am going to show you how Joseph in the book of Genesis handled the obstacles he ran into at his place of work.
JOSEPH’S STORY OF BETRAYAL
Joseph had every right to be angry at his brothers for selling him into slavery. But Joseph was patient through the years working under Potiphar. And after a while, he was put in charge of Potiphar’s house(Genesis 39:4).
Years passed by and one day Joseph was falsely accused of sleeping with the Potiphers wife which in return landed him in prison.
Joseph didn’t argue about it. Instead, he made the best out of the situation and he glorified God by working hard in that prison. And because of his hard work, the warden put him in charge of the whole prison(Genesis 39:20-23).
After some time the Pharaoh found out that Joseph could interpret dreams. So he had Joseph interpret one of his dreams. Because Joseph interpreted one of Pharaoh’s dreams, Pharaoh found favor with him and rewarded Joseph for his services by putting him in charge of Egypt (Genesis 41:41).
Although Joseph had every reason to be mad at being sold into slavery and later being falsely accused of sleeping with his boss’s wife. Joseph chose to keep his cool and in return, God turned his situation into a blessing. He blessed him because of his patience, perseverance, love, and integrity.
GO TO THE LORD WHEN YOU ARE ANGRY
The bible says, “In your anger do not sin” (Ephesians 4:26). It is not considered a sin unless you react to that sin. Such as if someone were to make you angry and you went ahead and punched that person in the face. That would be considered a sin. But feeling angry is not a sin.
So when you come across a situation where you are angry at someone you need to take it directly to the Lord. Tell him exactly how you feel. Ask him to work in your heart and help you to change the way you feel about them. And to give you the perseverance that you will need to get through the circumstance.
I have been in this situation before many times and although my feelings want to say that I hate the person I am angry at, my mind remembers God’s word. And then God gives me the grace and love to not only pray for the other person but to change the way I feel for them as well.
HOW TO DEFUSE THE TENSION
#1 Don’t assume the worst in any situation and don’t take the situation personally.
#2 Although it may be hard, you will need to put your assumptions and judgments aside and replace them with a desire to know the truth.
#3 Chances are you can make the issue bigger than what it really is by assuming the worst. You need to get all the facts. Go to them directly and ask them to tell their side of the story. They may be going through a hard time in their life and they are just taking their anger out on you.
#4 You need to let God be the judge while you step aside. If you ask, God will show you the right way to handle the situation.
Sometimes God will want you to leave that job if the environment is too bad for you to work in. Other times you will need to persevere and show everyone God’s love within yourself.
WHY IS CONFLICT RESOLUTION SO IMPORTANT
Remember that it is very important that you handle a tense situation calmly and professionally. It will not only benefit the relationship but also show your boss that you can handle challenges and be able to do so in a mature manner.
Ultimately if you show people God’s love through your words and actions, it will be much easier for you to get along with the people that you work with.
CONCLUSION
If you are going through a tough time at work and need some prayer, please leave a comment below. Let’s encourage one another. You were never meant to carry burdens alone. Sometimes seeing that you are not alone helps in dealing with the issues at hand.
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Thanks for this, I think we can apply it to our everyday lives as well in managing grudges.
I agree! This article will work for any situation outside of the workplace.
Lots of important advice in this post.. esp. great self reflection on controlling my own actions and thoughts.
I agree, I think we all need to check with God to see if there are things that we need to work on within ourselves
Thank you for these wise words. Not only are they relevant for dealing with tension and conflict at work, but also for managing my temper, in general. So helpful! 🙂
Your so right Lindy, you can apply these truths to your everyday life as well as for your working environment. I am so glad it helped you out. Thank you for commenting on my post! God bless!
This is beautiful and couldn’t have come at a better time! Thank you for sharing this message 🙂
Awe, your so very welcome. I am so glad it touched you. Thank you for commenting! God bless!
Great post. I love Matthew 7:1. It’s a great reminder that we’re all susceptible to the same weaknesses and so need to give each other a break – even in the workplace!
Thank you! I agree you never know what the other person is going through.
Such a beautiful post, I’m not a christian but I totally resonate with these points. Knowing that God is there, watching over you during difficult situations always put me at ease, knowing that He has a plan and things will get better in time and these moments just help us grow. Thank you for sharing this post x
Your so very welcome! I just want people to know that everything happens for a reason. And maybe that argument or issue with someone was brought about in order to show Gods love to them. His love is precious and we need to see it in this dark world that we live in.