RESOLVING CONFLICT AND DEALING WITH EVIL

And quarreling arose between Abram’s herdsmen and the herdsmen of Lot. …Lot… pitched his tents near Sodom. Now the men of Sodom were wicked… Genesis 13:7, 12, 13.

In today’s OYB reading, it was Abram who took the initiative to resolve the issue that his herdsmen had with the herdsmen of his nephew, Lot. Lot would choose to move to the area near Sodom, where the people “were wicked and were sinning greatly against the Lord,” v.13. We know from 2 Peter 2:7-8 that Lot “was distressed by the filthy lives of lawless men (for that righteous man, living among them day after day, was tormented in his righteous soul by the lawless deeds he saw and heard),” but his family seemed to lose out.

A couple lessons we can learn from this account:
1) Resolving conflict usually requires initiative from someone—in this case Abram led the way. Where can we help resolve conflict?
2) On a different note, how we approach the evil around us also matters—Lot’s proximity to evil did not in the end lead to a good outcome for him. What is our response to that which is evil around us (maybe even as close as our electronic devices)? We need the devotion Abram exhibited in keeping a close relationship with God.