Conflict in itself is neither good nor bad. It is a part of life.
A hammer can be used to inflict injury or build a shelter. A voice can be used to speak truth or profess lies. The instrument depends on the one who plays it. Conflict can either be the source of intense pain or a conduit for greater love and intimacy, and it is found in every facet life.
We find conflict in work, marriage, family, friendship and literally every aspect of our world. It is unavoidable. Yet for many, conflict is a subject that evokes such fear that it is treated in the same way as meeting an angry bear in the woods, with pure reactional and survival instinct. This only leads to strangled and at worst shipwrecked relationships.
We see countless people structure their entire lives around the avoidance of conflict. Children are raised to walk on eggshells, talented people lock themselves in isolation, marriages grow sterile, friendships decay, co-workers simmer in offense, and communities rot, all due to the foolish attempt to evade one of the most unavoidable and yet potentially rewarding things in life – conflict.