Winning vs. Losing

This was my devotion this morning.  How often do we become so convinced that we are right and destroy those we love or our brothers or sisters in Christ trying to prove that we are right, when we should back off and allow God to do the proving?

"One of the hardest things in life is allowing someone to "win" a disagreement — especially when we’re convinced that we’re right. The Word of God teaches, however, that "losing" in the eyes of the world can mean "winning" in the eyes of God.

"Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God." (Matthew 5:9)
Did you get into a disagreement with a spouse, family member, friend, or colleague?  Have you decided that you’re not going to "back down"?

As Matthew 5:9 instructs, who we really are has very little to do with who gets the "last word" or what we "accomplish." After all, even non-believers win a lot of debates, and accomplish impressive things! Instead, who we really are has everything to do with how we love, treat, and unify people. In 1 Corinthians chapter 13, the Bible warns that we can speak in tongues, have prophetic powers, and give everything we have to the poor, yet still be a "useless nobody" to God.

Being "someone" to God often means surrendering our right to be "right." It also means that, occasionally, we’ll have to "lose" with people in order to "win" with God.

The devil will do anything to escalate a disagreement.  He will remind us of what someone said, and how they said it. He will feed a tiny offense until it progresses into an explosive fight. That’s what he does! The devil comes to steal, kill, and destroy the unity in families, among believers, and in friendships. He recognizes the power of peace — and so should we." (Marsha DuCille)

James 3:18 promises:

"And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace of them that make peace."
The fruit is sown of them that MAKE peace...in other words, those who work at bringing peace or making peace in situations will bear the fruit in peace.  So...in the situations you are facing today, are you making peace, sowing seeds in peace or are you destroying others in the pursuit of proving that you are right?

Lord, help me to surrender my NEED or desire to be right into Your hands and help me to never destroy those that I come in contact with in my pursuit to prove how right I am!