The Bible includes many references to the tenderness, patience, and enduring compassion that characterize true Christian fellowship. But both the Old and New Testaments also call for the moral courage and strength of conviction that enable us to point out to one another what's needed in order to keep to the path that leads Godward. "Reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine," II Tim. 4:2 Paul told the early Christians.
Rather than present love and reproof as two very different faces of Christian practice, the Bible compels us to love others deeply enough to help and encourage them to draw closer to God and to be more Christlike. Who of us, at some point, has not needed and received correction from some loving friend or family member? The individual's timely words may well have quickened our moral sensibilities and awakened us to the voice of Truth, which brought healing. And were we not ultimately very grateful for the reproof, even if at the time we were discomfited by it?
The difficulty arises when we feel we would like to help another but aren't sure if God is impelling us to speak. While it can seem a relatively simple thing to know if we are feeling something of the Father's love for an individual, it may not seem so simple a matter to know what—if anything—we should say to help correct or encourage.
