What Do You Do When You Don’t Agree With Someone’s Beliefs? Part 2
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In the last post, we talked about what do you do when you don’t agree with someone’s beliefs. If you missed it, you can click here to catch up.
Every day, We see hate speech–on all sides. We see disagreements over big things and even over the simplest things. We see people argue over differences of opinion as if our lives depended on it (and sometimes it does). Even among Christians, we see this behavior.
But, this is not the way Jesus meant for believers to live. He taught us a better way.
That way is love.
But how could we possibly love others we don’t agree with–or maybe even hate? (And, yes, I have felt that way towards some people.)
Luke 6:32 NIV
If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners love those who love them.
Now more than ever we need to walk in love especially with those we don’t agree with.
John 13:35 NKJV
By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.
Those who don’t know Jesus yet are drawn to Him when they understand how loved they are. Romans 2:4 talks about the goodness of God that leads people to repentance (change of thinking).
So how do we love others that are hard to love? How do we love others when we don’t agree with their beliefs?
We don’t have to agree to love one another.
Today, I am going to give you two effective ways to love those that are hard to love.
1. Step Into Their Shoes
Perspective is everything.
Photo by Vladimir Fedotov on Unsplash
I heard a story of a blind man walking in the woods by himself. A group of hikers came across this blind man and expressed they thought it was odd that he carried a lantern.
“Why do you bother to carry a lantern? You can’t see anything?”
The blind man replied, “I don’t carry the lantern for me. I carry the lantern so others can see me.”
The hikers' perspective was how ridiculous for a blind person to carry a lantern. They can’t see. They failed to comprehend the other person’s perspective that the blind man used this lantern to make sure he didn’t get run into by someone that couldn’t see him.
How many of us go around getting irritated at someone else yet we’ve never walked in their shoes. We don’t know what they’ve been through. We don’t know their story. We don’t know why they think the way they do.
And, why is that?
We usually don’t stop to ask ourselves why.
Next time you read a social media post that ticks you off, stop, step out of your shoes and into their shoes for a moment.
Ask yourself why they think that way? What’s their story? What’s it like to live in their shoes?
Even if what we come up with is a guess, it will benefit us to walk through this exercise.
When we don’t step into someone else’s shoes, we will only see what we want to see and miss out on seeing another perspective.
This doesn’t mean we have to change our beliefs or even agree with them. However, it will short circuit the passion that wants to fight back ugly.
Seeing another person’s perspective, allows us to walk in love.
Photo by Jon Tyson on Unsplash
2. Pray For Them
There is something powerful when you pray for someone you don’t agree with or are angry at.
We can’t change other people, but when we pray for them, it will change us!
Prayer is one of the best ways I have found to let go of anger or resentment toward others. And, God is usually right there helping you see their perspective too.
Now, when I say pray for them, I don’t mean just a pray, “God change them! They are so wrong!”
What you can do is pray that God gives them wisdom and understanding. Pray for them to have favor with others. If they are unbelievers, pray that the Father would draw them to Jesus (John 6:44). Pray that their heart would be softened.
You can also pray that God would give you wisdom and understanding. Pray He will help you see their perspective and understand their story.
As you practice these simple and effective tools, they will help you walk in love with those you don’t agree with. By this, you are obeying Jesus' commandment He gave to us to love one another (John 13:34; 15:12, 17). As a by-product, you will gain greater peace and compassion.