Matthew 18:15

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.

Imagine witnessing this interaction between friends as a discussion heats up a bit, one of the parties said something along the lines of, “How dare you say that to me? Don’t you know who I am?” The other person responds, “I am your friend. And if I am your friend, I must be able to speak honestly. Am I your friend?”

Silence.

In the passage above, Jesus describes a direct encounter between two people. Notice that the person who is offended is to confront the offender – just between the two of them. It takes courage to do that, wouldn’t you agree?

Sometimes real love requires confrontation and confrontation requires courage.

What if there was no Nathan to correct David (2 Samuel 12:1-13)? What if Paul failed to confront Peter’s hypocrisy (Galatians 2:11-14)? Though Paul was surrounded by other pastors and leaders in the church, he was alone.

So, how many of us have friends who truly make us better? How many of us are those kinds of friends who are able to speak honestly in any circumstance?