Confrontations

I have a confession to make.

I'm a chicken.

Not in all matters of life, but in one very specific area in my life.

When someone offends me, instead of confronting them concerning the situation, I choose to high-tail it and run out of Dodge!

Satan likes it when I do that, because he knows that if I don't deal with the situation immediately then he can get a foothold into my life.  Bitterness and anger begin to grow in my heart allowing less space for love and forgiveness.  Satan puts thoughts into my mind that say, 'You will only make the matter worse if you go talk to them."

Satan likes dis-unity.

So what to do?  Follow the step by step guide that Jesus Himself gives us in Matthew 18:15-17.  

1-Go and talk with the person who hurt you.

2-If it doesn't go well, take another person with you to talk with the person who hurt you.

Allow an offence to be brought out into the open, confessed, forgiven, healed and move on.

I've learned two things concerning confrontations:

1-You cannot heal from that which you will not acknowledge, and

2-God can straighten out any twisted situation.

But that's just me!

"If we confront someone, we should have one goal:  Restoration, not embarrassment."

       Charles Swindoll