Seventh-Day Adventist Devotional For Children: “Caring Enough To Confront”

*DAILY BREAD – A DEVOTIONAL FOR CHILDREN* .

Eastern Nigeria Union Conference Children’s Ministries

*THEME: I WILL GO*

Monday, May 16, 2022

*Topic: Caring Enough to Confront*

_Nathan said to David, “You are the man!” 2 Samuel 12:7_

Sometimes we are almost completely blind to our own sins and shortcomings. It’s so much easier to see the faults and failures of others. And sometimes it takes someone else to make us see our sin. That’s how it was with David. When the prophet Nathan told him a story about a rich man who stole a poor man’s lamb, David was outraged. He could clearly see what the rich man had done, but he failed to see his own sin. The prophet needed to confront David before he realized that Nathan was talking about him. Sometimes we need to confront, and sometimes we need to be confronted. It is never easy to tell someone we care about that they are wrong. It is even harder to have someone tell us that our own behavior is out of line. Sometimes it’s easier to look the other way. When someone cares enough to confront us, often our first response is “Who do you think you are? You’re not perfect either!”
Nathan knew that he had to give King David some difficult correction from God. He was probably nervous about how the powerful king would respond. Nathan chose a gentle way to help David understand the situation from another point of view. Nathan helped David to empathize with the person he had wronged. Nathan mentored King David by helping him see where he had wandered from God’s law. He spoke the truth that needed to be spoken in a loving way.
God calls us to confront others who are in sin, but we need to learn to do so with gentleness. it needs to be done with great compassion. Ephesians 4:15 says, “Speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ.” We need not yell and scream as we call out bad behavior, because then we become a part of the problem. Instead we should use the mature approach, confronting with gentleness and kindness so that our words can be heard. We must also be willing to be confronted when we are blind to our own sins. God wants us all to help remove the barrier of sin that keeps us far from God.
King David did not try to defend his sinful behavior; instead, he responded in penitence. His heart was softened to hear what he needed to hear. May we also hear God’s Word and respond in love to Christian mentors who guide us to follow Jesus more closely.

Song
Let There Be Love Shared Among Us,
Let There Be Love In Our Eyes,
May Now Your Love Sweep This Nation,
Cause Us Oh Lord To Arise.
Give Us A Fresh Understanding
Of Brotherly Love That Is Real,
Let There Be Love Shared Among Us,
Let There Be Love.

*Prayer*
Father in heaven, make us caring enough to confront someone who is living in sin, to lovingly confront wrong behavior and give us the grace to accept those who confront us. May we mentor one another to live obediently for you, in Jesus’ name. Amen