Acronym Saturday

Think of H.A.R.D. When

It Comes to Conflict Resolution

This is one of my favorites from Bible Study Fellowship days. Unfortunately I do not recall which year it is from but it has stuck with me.

Honest - Be honest with the person(s) that you are wanting to talk to.

Appropriate - There is no need to make a scene. Find the right time and place.

Respectful - Keep in mind that each person has the right to be treated with respect.

Direct - Do not beat around the bush. Get to the point promptly.

Matthew 18:15-17 is a passage that, in my experience, is often abused and not explained nor modeled. There was a sermon on this very passage at my church by Pastor Ted Doering sometime ago that I found to be quite helpful. The passage reads as follows from the ESV, “If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother. ¹⁶ But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every charge may be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses. ¹⁷ If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. And if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector." We are to make every attempt to reconcile our differences. Yet, if someone refuses to be reconciled we ought to treat the individual as we would an unbeliever thus not giving up on that person but continuing to extend grace and mercy in order to win the person back. This is what the sermon taught me.

For me, it is a challenge to be direct because I want to please people and want them to like me. Yet, I have come to learn that it is better to be direct and leave the rest to God. This, too, is another way that I can treat others the way that I would want to be treated. I need to consider how I would want to be treated in the situation and do my best to be honest, appropriate, respectful, and direct with others. Prayer is not to be neglected here because it gets my heart in the right frame of being in order to do this with someone who matters to me. I have had the opportunity to put this acronym into practice and I am thankful for having learned this.

With whom could you use to put this into practice? Does this person matter to you? Would you prayerfully consider acting on this?

My disclaimer: I know that every believer's relationship to God is different and unique. You may not have the same experiences and that is okay. I am sharing because I want to bring Him the glory for what He is doing in me and impart to you what I have learned from His word.