Key Ideas
Faith Fact
We can solve disagreements with God’s help.
Faith Verse
Ephesians 4:3 (NLT)
Make every effort to keep yourselves united in the Spirit, binding yourselves together with peace.
Question of the Day: Who can we go to for help when we have a disagreement?
Read about It
Read: Acts 15:1–11
Did you know that people don’t always agree with each other all the time? It’s true. Think of the last time your family was trying to decide what movie to watch or game to play. Your family members probably had different ideas. You probably had to talk it out, give reasons for why you thought what you did, and then, make a final choice. Sometimes a grown-up helps to decide how things should be.
This is like what happened in today’s Scripture reading, but it was about something much more serious than what game to play. There was a disagreement about what needed to happen for a person to be saved and become part of God’s family. So, after some long conversations, the church saw that they needed to talk about it with the leaders—the apostles and elders. God used those leaders to speak wisdom about a tough disagreement. When we don’t know how to solve a problem with another believer, we can do the same thing. We can ask for God’s wisdom, and we can trust godly leaders to help us.
Talk about It
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Question 1. What happened between the men from Judea and Paul and Barnabas? Answer 1. They had a disagreement and started arguing. (Acts 15:1–2)
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Question 2. When they couldn’t come to an agreement, what did the church in Antioch do? Answer 2. They sent Paul and Barnabas to talk to the apostles and elders in Jerusalem about the question. (Acts 15:2)
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| Question 3. When have you had a disagreement with someone, and how did you handle it?
Answer 3. Answers will vary.
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| Question 4. Why is it sometimes hard to solve a disagreement?
Answer 4. Answers will vary.
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| Question 5. Who can we go to for help when we have a disagreement?
Answer 5. We can ask for God’s wisdom, and we can trust godly leaders to help us. |
Pray about It
Dear God, thank You that You generously give wisdom to those who ask. Help us to look to You when we disagree with other people who also love You. Amen.