She Is Strong and Courageous 30-Day DevotionalSample

Communicate with Care – Euodia and Syntyche

Are broken relationships distracting you from your true calling in God? In today’s devotional, consider 4 conversation killers plus tips on sharing truth with love.

“Now I appeal to Euodia and Syntyche. Please, because you belong to the Lord, settle your disagreement. And I ask you, my true partner, to help these two women, for they worked hard with me in telling others the Good News. They worked along with Clement and the rest of my co-workers, whose names are written in the Book of Life.” (Philippians 4:2–3) 

Pray: Lord, give me focus and direction as I study your Word. 

Observe: Better communication leads to better relationships. 

God calls us to speak truth, and He calls us to do so in love (Ephesians 4:15). In order to communicate with care, we must avoid responses that kill our conversations. Four conversation killers are criticism, defensiveness, stonewalling, and contempt.

Criticism is often used when we disagree, disapprove, object, or judge other people’s thoughts or actions. Defensiveness is often employed when someone disagrees, disapproves, objects, or judges us. Criticism and defensiveness place our conversations into a destructive, repetitive cycle—a cycle that repeats itself until one person gives up, shuts down, or walks away.

Contempt is an expression of disgust or dislike, and stonewalling is a refusal to communicate. Knowing how destructive these conversation killers are doesn’t stop us from employing them. We must make every effort to communicate with patience, compassion, and a willingness to listen—whether we agree with what is being said or not.

Euodia and Syntyche partnered with Paul in the spread of the gospel, and he urged them to communicate with care. These sisters in Christ were encouraged to settle their disagreement and focus on their calling to influence the world for Christ.

Courageously communicate with care by regularly asking yourself the following questions: 

1. Is God encouraging me to reconcile with someone with whom I am at odds? 

2. Am I quick to judge and criticize people for their faults? 

3. Has someone judged or criticized me, and does their judgment have any merit? 

4. Am I willing to thank others for their honest evaluations? Do I need to ask someone for forgiveness, or do I need to set a healthy boundary in order to guard my heart? 

Interpret: God wants us to be at peace with others and maintain our focus on spreading the gospel.

Apply: Practice courageous communication by reaching out today to someone who has criticized you. Thank that person for his or her honest opinion and ask that individual to pray for you as you strive to change.

Pray: Father, help me to be quick to hear, slow to speak, and slow to anger (James 1:19). Give me the courage to communicate truth in love and help me to do all I can do to be at peace with everyone (Romans 12:18).