Loving.Confrontation

Dear friends, if God loved us in this way, we also must love one another. No one has ever seen God. If we love one another, God remains in us and His love is perfected in us.
1 John 4:11‭-‬12 HCSB

Verse 10 says:
Love consists in this: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.

Jesus is our example. He came to serve His creation not to Lord it over them. When we serve others we are doing as He did. What does this look like? Jesus knew who He was, the Son of God, yet it did not see it as a reason to take authority over us or to Lord it over us. There were many times when the disciples got things wrong. He gently confronted then. He even rebuked them, but He did it in love.

When we are upset by someone we want to correct them. How do we do that? Do we publicly humiliate them and go around speaking evil about them or other we confront in private and then move on?

In any relationship there is confrontation and disagreement. How we handle this disagreement determines the future of our relationship. I am building new relationships at present and conflict is arising. I know I must go there because in the crucible of fire a relationship forms. In plain English, you don't know how good a relationship is until you have a fight. Fight well and you have a better relationship.

So far this week I have had two, maybe three disagreements and confrontations. So far I am the better for them. This is the goal, a closer relationship.

Chapter 4 start with a warning about discerning of spirits. We need to know what spirit we are dealing with in others. Is it a humble Christian spirit or is it a carnal nasty spirit that is out to destroy. When you know what you are up against you can then deal with it. Amen!