Monday, September 15, 2025

New Testament Reading Plan: 1 Corinthians 11

I know I should try to reflect God’s light and love, finding joy in him instead of letting situations weigh me down. But recent news - and the way people were communicating about it, especially on social media - has been filling me with grief.

What angered me most about the commentary I saw online - coming from friends, family, and fellow Christians - was how disingenuous it felt. Yes, there were people who were genuinely mourning and genuinely raising concerns, but there were also people trying to use tragedies to prove the virtues of their side and the vices of the other side.

We need to learn a better way to communicate. Our current strategies right now aren’t working. Yes, I am just as guilty as the next person of getting heated online or too focused on proving my side right. And yes, there is a place for sharing your thoughts and opinions with the world. But for the sake of our country, something needs to change.

Matthew 18:15-17a and 18:20
“If another believer sins against you, go privately and point out the offense. If the other person listens and confesses it, you have won that person back. But if you are unsuccessful, take one or two others with you and go back again, so that everything you say may be confirmed by two or three witnesses. If the person still refuses to listen, take your case to the church. … For where two or three gather together as my followers, I am there among them.”

This past weekend, Ben talked about how we should approach conflict with the goal of restoration - fixing what is broken. This doesn’t necessarily mean making things look the same as before. If something is broken, often that means something needs to change.

However, restoration requires the right approach and the right tools.

Over the next few days, we’re going to look at how to approach conflict with the people in our life. For now, I want to leave you with this thought: How would our relationships, our towns, the church, our country, and even our world look different if Christ followers set down the need to be right during conflict, and focused on being a means of God’s restoration?

Because right now, for a lot of us, the approach and tools we’re using aren’t working.

Questions:
Do you approach conflict with the goal of restoration, or with the goal of proving yourself right?

Do you feel you use the right approach and tools in tough conversations?

Next Steps:
Take an honest look at how you communicate, especially when it comes to conflict.

Consider doing a social media cleanse to get away from some of the more toxic forms of communication common in the world today.

Invest in building healthy relationships with other Christians where you can have healthy conversations about conflict, with the goal of restoration. Fall Groups are open!

Prayer:
Heavenly Father, thank you for providing guidelines on how to have hard conversations in a healthy way. Help me take your word to heart, keeping my focus on restoration, instead of being right. I ask for healing in my own heart and in the world around me. May your will be done in me and through me. Amen.

Series Theme Verse:

Romans 12:17-18
Never pay back evil with more evil. Do things in such a way that everyone can see you are honorable. Do all that you can to live in peace with everyone.

This post was written by Payton Lechner, a Perrysburg attendee, and a regular contributor to the Daily LivingItOut.