Wednesday, April 17, 2024

Listen to the Word

“If your brother or sister sins against you, go and point out their fault, just between the two of you. If they listen to you, you have won them over.”  (Matthew 18:15)

When we find ourselves in conflict with someone, Jesus clearly instructs us to go directly to the person involved. That is usually the last person we want to approach. It is more fun to go to someone else and say, “I just want to get some objective feedback from a neutral third party. Here’s what has happened… Now don’t you agree that this other person is a deeply disturbed, possibly psychopathic loser?” Sometimes we go to another person really looking for help or accountability, but usually we are just looking for an ally – for someone to reinforce our conviction that we are a mistreated martyr and the other person is the antichrist.

Instead of rehearsing our anger with a third party, Jesus challenges us to go to the person with whom we have the conflict. We don’t need to get more people lined up against that other person – we need to get that person and ourselves back into a healthy relationship.

Live the Word

If someone comes to you today and badmouths another person, gently encourage them to go directly to the other person to resolve the issue.