“Do not nurse hatred in your heart for any of your relatives. Confront people directly so you will not be held guilty for their sin.

Leviticus 19:17

Dear God, the second part of this verse is interesting. I get the first part about not nursing hatred, but the part about confronting so that I don’t join in by adding to the wrong they’ve done is a concept I overlook.

I have a relative right now who is out of relationship with almost the entire family. It’s hard for me to know how to reach out to him. You know the whole thing so I don’t need to recount it here. I guess I probably need to think more about what my role is in reaching out to him.

Father, having been on the receiving end of passive aggressive hatred from family members, I can appreciate the idea of confronting directly. Help me to encourage others to confront me when it’s necessary, help me to respond well to the confrontation, and help me to also confront in a healthy way when the situation calls for it.

In Jesus’ name I pray,

Amen