Conflict Resolution: How to Fight Fair in Your Marriage, Part 2

Now what I’d like to do is I want to walk through an acronym. Are you ready for this? DIFFUSE. Can you believe I used that acronym? We want to diffuse the conflict.

Literally, I looked this up in Webster’s. It’s the idea of something that’s, kind of, coming to a boil and to diffuse means to spread it out. We want to diffuse the anger. Diffuse the argument. Diffuse the conflict so that instead of it being attacking one another, you diffuse it to the point where both of you get God’s perspective and you resolve it God’s way.

So, I want to give you a little word picture that will help you recognize how you tend to respond. When you have conflict, you tend to respond either as a turtle or as a shark. Okay? Those are just the normal ways that people respond.

So, sometimes there’s conflict and there’s hurt and there’s an argument and there’s something. Some people are turtles. What do turtles do? They stick their head back in the shell and then they pull their little limbs in.

Turtles will not speak to you for hours or sometimes days at a time. That means you have a problem in your relationship. Turtles often face the other wall that we talked about at bedtime, letting you know they don’t really want to talk to you or be around you.

Turtles withdraw affection. Turtles will not hug you or kiss you in ways that make you feel like there’s a real person inside hugging you or kissing you. You know, they give you the old, “Mmmmmm.” Or, you get the cold, silent shoulder.

And by the way, this is just kind of, we all learn from our families and our personalities how to deal with conflict. So this is, like, in your DNA. You’ve been trained by this.

Turtles avoid. If there’s conflict, mmmmmm, let’s not talk about that. They redirect. Let’s do this. Oh, why don’t we do something else? Hey, maybe we should go on vacation. Let’s not talk about that right now. Whatever it takes to avoid the conflict, to not face difficult issues, that’s what turtles do. Sometimes they run to mother, sometimes they run to pain, sometimes they run to alcohol or drugs or spending or pleasure or buying things they can’t afford.

Now, by contrast, sharks, when there’s conflict, they start swimming the water. Have you seen, like on the Discovery Channel? You know? [Makes shark swimming noises] You know, right? You know? They, hey, there’s conflict, we’re going to get it solved and we’re going to get it solved now. And their goal is to win.

And so sharks have different games. They play the mind-reading game. You only did that when you’re trying to be nice because you felt guilty, didn’t you? See, I can read your mind and I’m the mini-psychologist.

Or when you bring up something a shark will say something. “Well, anyway, if you think my office is filthy, look at yours. Or if you did this,” they will do the switcheroo.

So, what they do is they take any issue that’s brought up, they spin it real quickly and dagger right back at you.

If you’re thinking to yourself, “This guy really is good on the shark side of it” there’s a reason.

Sharks keep score. Sharks play in their mind and comes out of their, “Well I’m trying harder than you are. You know, if you try as hard as me, then this marriage would be what it’s supposed to be.”

Sharks use logic to escape emotional reality. Sharks use their intellect to diffuse things in their mind. Because the goal for sharks is to win. Sharks, when it really gets bad it comes, it comes, it comes, it comes, it comes. “Hey, you know what? I’ll tell you what. I’ll just divorce you and you’ll see.” It’s the atom bomb attack.

The big threat, trying to bring fear into the relationship to make the other person submit and shut up and not face it.

Sharks humiliate their partners. Statements come out and you get this, even if they don’t say it, there’s this, kind of, “How could you be so stupid? How could you, did your mom not raise any smart kids? That is ludicrous.” There’s this air of sophistication where they go up and they put you down.

Now, let me ask you this question. Now, not that any of you are full blooded sharks or big, big turtles. But if I had to make you put yourself in the shark or the turtle category, which are you? How do you respond to conflict? What do you tend to do?

And see, the reason I want you to get that down is because when I’m going to walk through this major conflict, you need to do it through the lens of realizing, my natural inclination is to attack. You attack, why? Because you’re insecure like me and you don’t want the other person to see your shame and your failure.

Or you’re going to withdraw. Why are you going to withdraw? Because you’re insecure like me and everybody else and you don’t want to face difficult, hard things that might come up.

And all I’m saying is, if there’s any encouragement in Christ, you know? If there’s any consolation of love. If there’s any fellowship with the Spirit, be of the same mind toward one another. Be of the same purpose.

Don’t think only on your own interests but think also of the interest of others. Let’s figure a way to not be a shark or a turtle and get this on the table and deal with it. And I hope right now you’re saying, how? Okay. Ready?

The “D” stands for define the problem. And what I mean by this, define it on your own. When a conflict begins, the biggest mistake is verbalizing and trying to find and solve it with the other person.

Because most of the time, we’re dealing with symptoms. But you have a problem. We jump in and as soon as you get attacked then the turtle and the shark start showing up.

And so, my encouragement is define the problem on your own. And so I write down things like: what’s bothering me? How do I feel? When did this begin? And as one of the great – Spurgeon said, he says, “I pray my way near and I write my way clear.”

When I don’t know what’s going on inside and you’re not sure, just start writing. I feel. God, I don’t understand. There’s anger going on in my heart right now and I can’t figure out exactly where it’s coming from. And pretty soon, you write your way clear.

But what you want to do is define the problem. Is the problem really the spending? Is that what really is bothering you? Is the problem the argument about the kids or is it philosophical, is there a different belief system?

Define the problem on your own and get to where you can separate the problem from the person.

Second, then, the “I” stands for initiate a time to talk. Initiate a time to talk. And by the way, I would say that you need to do that when it’s good for you and when it’s good for them.

The Scripture says, “The discerning heart seeks knowledge but the mouth of a fool feeds on folly.”

The discerning heart seeks knowledge. You want to define that problem, figure out what’s going on. And then, it’s not like, if the turtle says, “Well, I’d like to talk about this in six months.” That’s not one of the options, okay?

You know, tell me in the next twenty-four to forty-eight hours or so, look at your calendar. Because remember what Jesus said in Matthew 5? “If you come there before the Father and there offering your offering and you realize your brother,” in this case, your mate, “has something against you, leave your offering there, go to them and make it right.”

And then the “F” stands for focus on the perceived problem, not the person. Proverbs 18:19 says, “An offended brother is more unyielding than a fortified city and disputes are like the barred gates of a citadel.”

Now, listen to that again. An offended brother. Let me take a little license here. An offended mate is more unyielding than a, think of a fortified city with all the walls and all the ramparts. And disputes, arguments, are like barred gates of the citadel.

When we wound our mate, walls start going up. And so you need to focus on the perceived problem and not the person.

This is the problem. This is what I perceive it to be. It may not be the right problem. But you say, that’s what I’m going to focus on. And so you avoid messages like, you should, you always, you ought.

And instead, okay, write in your notes here, write that “I feel” message. I feel this when this happens, therefore, my perspective, I try and use that. I’m not as good as I should be. My perspective is, I think this is the issue. Versus, this is the issue. In other words, I know.

So, “D”, define the problem. “I”, initiate a time to talk. “F”, focus on the perceived problem.

And then, the next “F” is for feel their pain as though it were your own. Proverbs 17:17 says, “A friend loves at all times. And a brother is born for adversity.”

Our first calling to our mates and this is hard. Our first calling to our mates is not what they give to us but you are, remember, you are an agent of grace. Think of yourself as a pastor or a minister. Okay?

The person He’s going to use to make your mate the most like Jesus is you.

And we have a high priest who’s sympathetic with our needs, right? Who, in every way was tempted but he didn’t sin. It’s Hebrews 2:18.

And so what that means is, when I come before the throne of grace and I’m struggling and I’m hurting and I’m lonely and I’m depressed and I’ve messed up and I feel condemned. I come to a priest who feels my pain, who understands where I’m coming from.

I meet a “Come unto me all you that labor and are heavy laden.” I meet the Father of the prodigal who says, “I understand you messed up. I died for those mess-ups. You have, My command is come boldly.” Where? “To the throne of grace.” Unmerited favor. To get what? Mercy in your time of need.

What’s mercy? Mercy is God withholding what you deserve for what you did bad. And so, I want to be a priest to my wife and God wants her to be a priest to me and the only way to do that is and this is so hard for us men.

You know, when’s the last time you had a deep conversation and your husband said, “You know, I’m feeling kind of alone and vulnerable and I just feel like I want God to hold me.”

That sounds like you’re not a real man. And the fact of the matter is, I’ll guarantee your husband feels lonely and like he longs for God to hold him and longs that there’s someone who’s big and powerful and strong and accepting.

Because you know what? He has all the same struggles and all the fears you do. But we’ve grown up in a world where real men are macho men.

And we haven’t had a lot of models to learn how to process, you know what? The God that we serve is the God of Zephaniah 3:17. “The Lord your God is with you. He is mighty to save. He will quiet you with his love. He will sing, rejoice over you with singing.”

You know the heart of a man, when you feel alone and you feel all this pressure and you don’t know what to do. To be able to come before God and realize He’s mighty to deliver. He will quiet you, not with His power, with His love.

That you’re okay. That He’ll never leave you. That the thought of God singing over you, rejoicing over you, not because of what you did or what you didn’t do. But, you know what? Life’s okay because you’re loved by Him.

And the person who’s going to communicate that a lot is you. And your husband needs it. You need to feel what the pressures are that he feels. He’s not some robot that just gets up and makes stuff happen. He’s got fearful things inside of him.

You know, if we could understand that every woman, at some point in time, there’s a lot of little girl in her. And every man, no matter how big or powerful or wealthy, there’s a little boy in him too.

And part of what we need to do is learn how to love that person. And that means you’ve got to not just define the problem, initiate a time to focus on the problem not the person. But you need to feel their pain as though it were your own.

And then after you feel, then you “U”ncover the root problem.

Most conflicts, by and large, are symptoms. Root problems not dealt with will forever surface over and over and over in the same kind of issues.

Did you notice, in your notes, and I just gave you some common symptoms. If you find you’re arguing about money all the time, then probably the issue is not money. Okay? The problem, in likelihood, is you got different values, you got different priorities, or there’s power control issues in your relationship.

Or the second symptom here is sex. Often, not always, but often it’s communication. I don’t feel love. We’re not communicating there. I don’t feel close to you. If I don’t feel like we’re connecting intellectually and emotionally and we’re talking things through then getting together physically that’s not doing it for me.

Or, maybe it’s an unmet emotional need. You know, you want to be with me in a physical way but I don’t feel like, kind of, you know that triangle again. There is the spirit, the soul, and the body.

And when the soul and the spirit’s not being nurtured, you know what? That other person may not feel like getting together physically is such a wonderful, loving thing.

Or, for many it’s past baggage and history. Boy, for many of us men, understanding where our wives have been. And this is delicate and sensitive. But we better say it sometime, somewhere, right?

If you haven’t had a good conversation in an appropriate way and maybe it’s with a good counselor to understand your mate’s sexual history. If they have real struggles in this area. You know what? Don’t live your whole life there. Go get some help.

When a woman has been abused or if a woman has been through major rejection, there’s multiple issues that impact this area.

And you know what? You can just keep doing this forever and ever and ever and ever. Get down to the root issue.

Or if the arguments are about in-laws. The roots are usually loyalty or expectations.

And finally, if you argue a lot about children and work, it’s about roles and goals. The root issue is, what’s our goal as a couple and why are you spending so much time with the kids or so much time at work.

Or, what are our roles? This is happening with the children, my expectations are, you handle this. Well, mine were that you would handle this.

Well, you can keep arguing and arguing and arguing until you get down to: so what should our roles be and what are our goals?

And then the “S” is set things right between you. It’s a very, very simple one. Set things right between you. “Therefore confess your sins to one another that you may be healed.” Own your responsibility. Confess. And by the way, don’t do this in general ways. I was wrong. And then fill in the specific. And the next line is, “Will you forgive me?”

And I think this is important to look in their face, “Will you forgive?” And then to hear from the other person: I forgive you.

The “E” is establish a specific action plan that addresses the issues discussed. And you write it down. And if you think I’m really big on writing stuff down, it’s because if you don’t write stuff down, nothing really happens. And you don’t have a track record and your view and remembrance of the situation will be very different than your mate’s. “Well I thought we said we were going to…” “Well, I thought you said…” “We were going to do that? We’re not going to do that. Did I really say that?”

You know, get a calendar out and then get a piece of paper out and then this sounds maybe pedantic. But it’s very helpful. And as a husband, you say, “I commit to blank by blank.”

And it might be, hey, I’m not sure what to do. I commit to think about this for three days and come back with three suggestions about how to deal with this. Or it might be I commit to have a conference once a week. Or, forget that. I commit to do it this Thursday and then next Thursday we’ll talk about doing one next week. I commit to planning a weekend away in the next three months.

And so, the husband does that and the wife does that and you see what it does? It takes you from a problem that gets blown out of proportion and you take the pie of your relationship and that problem is a slice.

And it’s usually about five percent, maybe three percent. And instead of arguing and bickering and hurting and wounding you focus on all that God has done and then you diffuse it and you say, you know what? Let’s define this problem. Why don’t we initiate a time to talk? You know, I’m going to focus on the problem not the person. You know, I really want to feel how you’re really feeling.

Let’s get down below what’s really happening. You know what? What I see in this problem, I need to own this. And now, let’s establish a plan to make some progress.

And you’re always going to have those slices, right? You’re going to have conflict. But you know what? You can take that little DIFFUSE and you can say this is how we’re going to work through it. And when you do, I will tell you, God is gracious and kind and loving and His word to us, I believe, would come out of James chapter 1, as you listen to what I’ve just said. Because this is where the rubber meets the road, isn’t it?

James 1 verse 22 to 25 says, “Do not merely listen to the word and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the word but doesn’t do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror and after looking at himself goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it, he will be blessed in all he does.”