the end results are worth it…

proverbs 24.26 (tev) says this, an honest answer is the sign of a true friendship. real friends speak the truth. they tell their friends what they need to hear not what they’d like to hear. sometimes love must be tough. sometimes love hurts. it hurt JESUS to die. that’s the kind of love JESUS had to die for you. but the end results were worth it.

proverbs 28:23 (lb) says, in the end, people appreciate frankness more than flattery. it says, in the end – because they never appreciate it in the beginning. they don’t. if i were to point out things in your life that needed some correction, you wouldn’t appreciate it. you would be resentful. you’d be rebellious. you’d be stubborn about it. so would i. we never appreciate it at the start. it’s only in the end that we appreciate it.

do you know somebody maybe in your extended family who’s overbearing and controlling and nobody’s ever spoken the truth to them about it? do you know somebody who’s wasting their life and they’ve never been confronted? is there someone you love, you care about, who’s flirting with temptation, and are you going to just sit there silently and let it get worse? do you have a friend who is a gossip and a divider and is divisive and they love to spread rumors, but nobody’s ever had the courage to say, “stop it! you’re hurting people with your gossip! nobody’s ever had the courage to say, stop it!”

if you want to move to the highest level of loving, i invite you to pray this prayer: “dear GOD, this is scary. you know how much i fear speaking the truth sometimes. i hate conflict. i don’t like rocking the boat. but i see what is going on, and i know it’s not right. please, give me the courage i need to talk to that person. help me to check my motives first. help me to find the right words and the right time to say it. help me to be positive and wrap the truth in love and affirmation. i am willing to risk rejection in an attempt to save this relationship. i’m willing to face the pain or anger because i love this person and i really do want what’s best for them. i ask YOU to use me in this most difficult expression of genuine love. help us as we go through the tunnel of truth. in JESUS’ name. amen.”

just a thought from the front porch…