Speak the truth in love

If your relationship is firmly rooted in a lifelong commitment to each other and you’ve worked to build up concern for each other and trust in your marriage, it’s possible to confront important issues without blowups. Although it might be painful, confrontation is necessary. Confrontation is a means of listening to your spouse’s heart and expressing your own heart in a way that will ring loud and clear. How you confront is just as important as the issue you confront. Among the ground rules for healthy confrontation: remember how much you love each other; pray about it; listen to each other with an open heart; encourage and affirm one another; forgive and bury the past. Confrontation isn’t always comfortable, but it’s sometimes necessary.