Disagreements happen every day. With the social media, it's easy to advertise our personal beliefs and views. People are quick to comment on our beliefs and views claiming that it's wrong for different reasons. While I think it's important to stand up for what we believe in I also think it's important to respect other's beliefs and views. Agreeing to disagree is something that can help you achieve standing up for your beliefs while still respecting the other person for theirs. Here are some benefits to agreeing to disagree:
1. It won't be awkward when you see that person in public. If you and someone else get into an argument and one doesn't agree with the other at the end of it chances are things will be awkward. Agreeing to disagree can help dissolve some, if not all, of the awkwardness.
2. You are less likely to hurt someone's feelings. Disagreements can get very personal especially if you are close to that person yet so passionate about the subject of disagreement. Agreeing to disagree before it gets too serious will help avoid possibly hurt feelings.
3. People are more likely to respect you. If you're in someones face about a subject and refuse to see their side then they will probably not respect you. It's hard to listen to someone who is so set in their opinion that they refuse to even try to put themselves in the other person's shoes and see their side of it. Keep your respect and earn someone else's by agreeing to disagree.
4. Peace in your heart. If you're disagreeing with someone then it can cause unrest in your heart and make you angry. If you agree to disagree, then you will have more peace than you would if you try to force someone to agree with your own opinion.
5. Avoids unnecessary conflict. Getting into disagreements and staying in that disagreement breeds all kinds of conflict. It can not only breed conflict with them but also with others that you and the other person are mutual friends with. Agreeing to disagree stops conflict from growing at the root.
Agreeing to disagree has many benefits. It's hard to step back from a disagreement about a subject you're passionate about and say "I'm going to agree to disagree" but overall it will be better for the relationship. While there are hills that we have to choose to die on because of our personal beliefs, we should keep these as few as possible. Instead of starting an argument we know will happen, we should choose to show the person why we believe what we believe by our actions. This is a long way around but in many situations, it is much more effective. A person may never agree with you but at least in agreeing to disagree you have kept the respect and peace and avoided conflict, awkwardness, and hurting someone's feelings.
Here are two Bible passages that support agreeing to disagree:
Romans 14:1-23 and Romans 15:1-1.
