When Conflict Spins Out of Control | Judges 15:6-8

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Our text today is Judges 15:6-8

“Then the Philistines said, ‘Who has done this?’ And they said, ‘Samson, the son-in-law of the Timnite, because he has taken his wife and given her to his companion.’ And the Philistines came up and burned her and her father with fire. And Samson said to them, ‘If this is what you do, I swear I will be avenged on you, and after that I will quit.’ And he struck them hip and thigh with a great blow, and he went down and stayed in the cleft of the rock of Etam.” — Judges 15:6-8

Look at the spiral.
Samson burns fields.The
Philistines burn his wife and father-in-law.
Samson slaughters them back.

It’s eye for eye, burn for burn, blow for blow. And the body count keeps rising.

This is how anger works. It rarely stays small. It grows teeth. It multiplies. It escalates until everyone loses.

Payback feels powerful—but it always makes situations worse.

You know this cycle. A word said in anger leads to another. A jab at the family gathering explodes into a feud. A cold shoulder stretches into years of silence. Nobody remembers how it started, but everyone’s still bleeding.

The way of Christ is different. He broke the cycle. Instead of retaliation, He chose surrender. Instead of lashing back, He absorbed the cost. At the cross, He stopped the spiral so peace could start.

And that’s the invitation to us: don’t add fuel to the fire. Be stronger. Be resolved. Be the one who ends the cycle.

ASK THIS:

Where are you stuck in a back-and-forth cycle of conflict right now?
How has anger made things bigger than they ever needed to be?
What would it cost you to stop escalating and choose peace?
How can Jesus’ example shape your response?
DO THIS:
Identify one conflict that’s escalating.
Decide today: “I will not add fuel.”
Take a humble step to break the cycle—apologize, soften your tone, or listen first.
PRAY THIS:
Lord, I don’t want to live in the spiral of payback. Help me stop adding fuel. Give me the humility and courage to be a peacemaker like You. Amen.

PLAY THIS:
“Peace Be Still.”