Heard of today’s verse before? Speaking the truth in love can come across as a slightly vague instruction, but it’s really, really useful for building lasting relationships. The kind of relationships that get to a point where there’s an inevitable clash-of-preferences, and you’re left needing to resolve an issue.
So, yes, we’re going in at the deep end: what does it look like to resolve conflict in a healthy, godly way? In a difficult situation, it’s all too easy to make comments aimed directly at someone’s self-worth; something that only God should have a say in. Stuff like ‘You always mess up’, ‘Why do I bother with you?’ generally aren’t beneficial. They’re likely to leave bad feelings, rather than get to resolving the issue. Friends, parent-child relationships, wife/husbands fall over this kind of thing way too much. What’s a better approach is to focus on what the issue actually is- ‘I don’t feel as though you made enough of an effort with that’ or ‘You upset me when you said that’ all stay truer to the issue.
So… Why bother trying? And, why are W4U dishing out advice on this kind of thing? Well, we all need help to follow God’s will of avoiding arguing and complaining (Philippians 2:4). Let’s face it, it’s hard. Social media is a minefield for public naming and shaming and falling out. Our influences aren’t always biblical, so it’s good to get practical ideas under our belts on how to work things through.

What Now?
Today, cast your eyes over Philippians 2:1-18. It’s a challenging passage, but equally inspiring. Choose one piece of advice from it to REALLY live out today.