In a multitude of counselors there is abundance of safety.
So I've been tossed and vexed about a certain issue going on and decided to finally address the subject with someone. It's not always pleasant and can be painful to speak the truth in love to another person in the body yet there comes a time when it just must be done. So I thought I'm going to do it but will speak to my pastor first. So I sat down with my good pastor and his wife yesterday and bounced it off of them. My my, I realized before very long that divine wisdom was indeed coming from them! I was going to go about speaking to someone in a certain way and they showed me not to do it altogether as I was planning. And they voiced their opinion on how it should be done. Don't approach someone in anger whenever possible and take the low road and when you address them confess to them any part you may have played in any misiunderstandings. Deal with your own wounds and heart first and that clears the way to clearly address others. Plus the pastor and wife shared other insights about the situation that could have only come from the Lord and even they realized where it was coming from. So it showed me again the value of submitting to one another in humility. What if I had done things and addressed the issue the way I was going to? It would have opened more wounds.
So I addressed the person in the humble and conciliatory way the pastor and his wife advised me to and lo and behold I received a most gracious and tender reply from the person I spoke to. Now I am beginning to have my own soul back with the peace of the Lord and have in a way drawn closer to the person I addressed. Since he is a member of the body of Christ and so am I then the body has been strenghtened. All because I checked with others first even if going to them I was thinking I may or may not take their advice. Well, God showed up and I took the advice and life came from it.
Don't be afraid to SUBMIT to one another. It doesn't even have to be to your pastor and his wife. It can even be submission to just a fellow member of the body. Because of following sound wisdom imparted from above through the mouth of others I am getting my peace back and have won my brother I spoke to. In a multitude of counselors there is abundance of safety.