Leadership and Correction

Aephus, a few thoughts...

First, stop berating yourself. You're young, and you're learning. You did the right thing by wrestling with the issue for a while, because you thought through what you would say rather than blurting and probably damaging the relationship.

Second, you aren't the Holy Spirit. It's His job to convict, not yours. Your role in this case was to point out the other person's sin. It won't always be your job to do so. You did what you sensed the Lord telling you to do. Don't make a doctrine out of it, or you will be known as a critical and judgmental person and people will avoid you, even if you aren't like that in reality.

Third, an effective way to share conviction is to share your story that is related, as in, "Recently, I downloaded something from the web, and I sensed the Lord telling me that I was wrong to do so. I deleted the item and repented." That way, there is no direct confrontation, but the message is still clear. The Holy Spirit can use that just as easily as "You're a sinner! You need to repent!"... perhaps more easily.

Last, following the Lord can be challenging, because we sometimes need to put friendships on the altar. You were willing to do that for the sake of the Lord. That is commendable.

Why is it sometimes difficult to bring correction? (This kinda goes with the dealing with conflict post I opened on the young adult forum a little while back). I notice in myself not really liking to rock the boat. But I know sometimes I need to.

Today I had a situation where I was hanging out with a friend and noticed they had something downloaded that they shouldn’t, like piracy kind of things. I used to do the same things, but the Lord convicted me of it and I ridded my devices of such things. I felt like the Holy Spirit kinda pricked me when I saw it. I didn’t say anything at first, and after hanging out for a bit I ended up leaving his house without bringing it up. I was in a state of unrest and really felt like I needed to talk to him still. After a bit of time and pondering I wrote him out a text and let him know how I felt and what I believe the Holy Spirit wanted me to bring up to him.
He told me he would get rid of it.

I’m still kind of conflicted because I’m not sure if I handled the situation well. It likely would have been better had I not been cowering to bring it up. But I guess it’s best that I still did bring it up and didn’t brush it off. Just a really big moment of weakness today. Or maybe just overall.

I need help bringing correction. I know God corrects those He loves, so I should do the same. I’d I don’t, what am I doing? That’s kind of what pushed me to push past my feelings and just do something.

What are some ways you’ve learned to deal with bringing correction?

I ask this one in my own weakness: How do you keep from feeling like you’ve caused a disconnection in the relationship after bringing correction?