The Brave Call

The Brave Call

Instead, we will speak the truth in love, growing in every way more and more like Christ, who is the head of his body, the church.

Christa had gotten the call in the midst of the worst storm of her five-year marriage. She was in a season of struggling to remain faithful—a too-busy life with too little time together had whittled her relationship with her husband down to a shadow of what it had once been, creating the perfect environment for her feelings to be pulled elsewhere.

Understanding the desperate place Christa’s marriage was in, a good friend took a chance and contacted Christa—she wanted to be able to understand what was happening. Christa explained to her friend what was really going on, acknowledging that she didn’t like where her marriage was either.

“She told me she wanted to hear my side of the story and that she loved me. She was praying for my marriage to be restored,” Christa told me on the phone as we were talking about the value of friendships in our lives. She explained that her friend offered no judgment, only support for her and her husband. Christa said it was one more confirmation from God that she needed to pursue her husband and work to restore her marriage. The woman who reached out has become an even closer friend to Christa through the situation. She spoke up when others wouldn’t, and Christa now knows she can depend on her no matter what.

After I said goodbye to Christa, I thought about what a brave call that was for her friend to make. She must have been unsure about how Christa would respond, but wanted to understand and reach out in love, while also speaking truth to her in that hard place.

I’ve often heard it said that we are to speak the truth in love, but many times people use this as just another way to tell others what they really think, without much love to be found. Christa’s friend is a wonderful counterexample of what it looks like to speak truth to someone, while also completely loving and showing compassion toward them. It’s a challenge to each of us when we see things that need to be addressed in our friendships—can we approach them with a balance of love and support?

— Kendra

— Today’s Act of Friendship —

Don’t put off a hard conversation with a friend. It may be just the support they need, but make sure you are really speaking the truth in love.