There was a time when confrontation, and getting a little out of pocket, were not exactly foreign occurrences for me. 😂 I’ve prayed and worked hard to bury that version of myself.

But recently, I think God has been showing me that somewhere along the way, I swung too far in the other direction.

Now, I sometimes shy away from even healthy conflict and necessary confrontation. And oddly enough, when I really examined why, I realized that reluctance is rooted in fear.

Fear I haven’t buried the old me deep enough. Fear I’ll discredit my witness. Fear that, when pushed far enough, I might just act a plumb fool.

But 2 Timothy 1:7 reminds us that God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, love, and a sound mind.

So what does that mean for me practically?

It means I have to trust Him even more.

I have to trust that the same God who changed me can teach me how to navigate difficult conversations. I have to trust Him to guide me through uncomfortable confrontations without either running away from them or reverting to old ways of handling them.

I may still be learning how to fight and be Christ-like at the same time, but God knows exactly what He’s doing.

And that doesn’t mean my anger will always disappear. Scripture tells us, “Be angry and do not sin” (Ephesians 4:26). So even when I’m 38 hot, I still have a responsibility to remain sensitive to the Holy Spirit. Anger doesn’t give me permission to become disobedient.

So yes, I am a new creation in Christ.

And apparently, part of becoming that new creation is learning that I don’t have to choose between avoiding conflict altogether and fighting the way I used to.

I have to learn how to fight differently.

Not every battle needs to be fought. Not every offense needs a response. But when God does call me to address something difficult, I don’t have to be afraid of who I used to be.

I can trust who He’s teaching me to become.