July 1, 2026 Devo

One of the discoveries I’ve made through the years is that most people are afraid to have “hard” conversations. We’re afraid to speak up at a group meeting if we have a different opinion or believe the group is going in the wrong direction. We’re afraid to confront an employee, fellow worker, or boss if there’s something they're doing that’s causing problems or disruption. We’re afraid to have a hard conversation with a family member who is saying hurtful things or whose behavior is causing everyone to walk on eggshells. Maybe we lack confidence. Maybe we lack courage. Maybe we believe that if we just ignore it, it’ll go away. But most of the time it doesn’t. We simply allow unhealthy, dysfunctional cultures to continue.
What if I were to tell you that I believe God WANTS us to have hard conversations? Our passage today is a good example. God wants Jeremiah to get up and say what many people don’t want to hear. He wants him to speak the hard truth to the people, to the religious leaders, even to the king. God tells him in advance that it won’t be easy and that he will have those who will push back on him. But God promises Jeremiah that He will be with him. If anything is going to be different, or if anyone is going to change their ways, someone has to say something. Jeremiah is that someone.
Full disclosure. Sometimes hard conversations don’t end well. Sometimes people get mad. Sometimes people walk away. Sometimes people accuse you of ulterior motives. But sometimes, through the hard conversation, God breaks through. Eyes are opened. Hearts are softened. And people change. I am who I am today because a few people along the way loved me enough to have a hard conversation with me. I imagine some of you may have had a few of your own. Why not give some others the same gift that we’ve been given?
Let’s stop taking the easy way out. Let’s stop ducking and hiding and refusing to step up, speak up, and say in love what needs to be said. Dysfunctional churches, family stress, hurtful relationships, and toxic workplaces are often that way because everyone is afraid to say what everyone already knows. If God’s nudging your heart, don’t be afraid to be the catalyst to put the problem on the table. What others do with it is up to them. It’s not our job to fix people. But sometimes, like Jeremiah, it is our job to point out what needs to be fixed. That’s God’s Word for you today.