Y'all Be Confrontin'

Todays topic is…drum roll please…….Confrontation!! Lets open with a verse from the Bible because that’s where all the best stuff is.

⁵ Better is open rebuke
than hidden love.
⁶ Wounds from a friend can be trusted,
but an enemy multiplies kisses.
Proverbs 27:5-6 NIV

And now, a quote from my buddy Oscar Wilde: "True friends stab you in the front." Think about that for a moment…..

So, confrontation…not going to lie, it is straight up…one of my least fave things to do in life….ever! But, it is so necessary no matter how sucky. I’m a peace loving, easy going chic. I hate the potential conflict or hurting peoples feelings SO confrontation is a skill that I blow at cause I hate doing it. I hate it so much that I often avoid doing it even when I know it’s what I need to do. One year when I was in college I prayed that I could work on my confrontation skills…be careful what you pray for guys….he will give you situations in which to practice these skills. Thankfully He gave me a really good friend to practice these skills with. We would often practice on each other and never on purpose…it was weird stuff. Both of us learned a lot about what not to do and because of that what to do. Thank the LORD for forgiveness and understanding.

Anywhoooooo

As you can see, this is one of the hardest things that I struggle with, I don’t know what it’s like for you guys, but it is tough stuff. Now, some personalities tend to have an easier time with it all, and some don’t. No matter how hard or easy it is for you, you still need to know the good ways of confronting and the bad ways.

Telling a buddy “hey man, you gotta stop doing this cause…..” takes big time guts. Sometimes you look uncool, uncaring, or whatev. But man, especially on the topic of purity, we have got to start stepping up and calling each other out. And, who better then friends who love us, know us, are comfortable with us. There are few different ways you can do this whole confrontation thing.

-one on one

-third party-be careful not to betray trust

-group intervention

-Kind and gentle….caring- Check out the story of Jesus Mary and Martha (Luke 10:38-42)

-Angry and get it through your thick skull blunt stuff-Jesus and table throwing (Matthew 21:12-13)

So confrontation is a large part of accountability. If you ask a friend to be your accountability person, you should expect that asking them is an invitation for that person to call you out when you’re struggling with something. And you, as someone’s accountability, must have the guts to confront the other or else the whole idea of keeping each other accountable becomes just a fancy title for nothing. It becomes useless.

The last couple of devo’s are going to look at how to properly confront and how not to. Things can get really touchy when it comes to purity and living a pure life. I hope you continue to pray about who you are accountable with. Pray for chances to change each others lives, and pray for sensitivity.