Pope Francis believes, “for peace to occur in the world we need to go above and beyond, loving and forgiving others even when it is undeserved. Jesus inserts the power of forgiveness into human relationships. In life, not everything is resolved with justice.”  Thus, Pope Francis is asking us to resolve issues even if it comes at a personal cost. So, the question is what does it mean coming at a personal cost?

I believe the first down payment is swallowing your pride. Instead of getting involved in a power struggle where the resolution is defined by a positive outcome for my own benefit, I attempt to reach a compromise. Thus, a win, win situation for all parties.

My second instalment is time. Sometimes you just have to resolve issues over a longer period. It is better to take a while to sort the problem for all stakeholders then look for a quick fix. Therefore, your time may be diminished for other things you would rather be doing however spending time to achieve a solution may result in long-term benefits in your relationships with others.

My final payment is taking yourself out of your comfort zone. We all have a picture in our heads of how we want a certain situation to go however it never seems to pan out that way. Therefore, you need to be flexible and react in a calm manner otherwise you have no effective input into that situation.

Furthermore, when the conflict is ongoing, I put it in the hands of God inspired by this scripture, Ephesians 3.20

. “God will do abundantly, above and beyond all that you could ask for or think.” He says he is going to go past the reach of our greatest prayers. Then beyond all we could think or envision!”