Sunday, May 13, 2007

Learn To Confront

Learn To Confront

"As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another." Proverbs 27:17

If you grew up in a family where confrontation left only wounds, you may have become 'a tap-dancer'. That's a pity, for "iron sharpens iron," and there are definite times when you need to confront, like:
When others stand to be hurt. Paul writes, "When Peter came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he was… wrong" (Galatians 2:11 NIV). Wow! The Clash of the Titans! Listen again, "Before certain men came… [Peter] used to eat with the Gentiles. But when they arrived, he began to… separate himself [and]… The other Jews joined him in his hypocrisy… even Barnabas was led astray" (Galatians 2:12-13 NIV).
When somebody is settling for less. A woman bought a pair of dingy candlesticks at a yard sale for a dollar. Assuming they were made of pewter, she took them home, dusted them and set them on her table. One day a friend who worked in antiques dropped by; "When are you going to clean those candlesticks?" she asked. "What do you mean?" the woman asked, "I just dusted them yesterday." "Dusted?" laughed her friend. "They need to be buffed and polished. They're silver!" So they got silver polish and clean cloths and went to work, until the dull charcoal veneer yielded a pair of gleaming silver candlesticks. Confrontation - the right kind - removes the tarnish that keeps us from shining as God intended us to. Today ask God to make you willing to confront, and when necessary, to be confronted. Your growth depends on it!

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