Three weeks ago, we began this blog post series on Hard Conversations by acknowledging something many of us feel: it can be difficult to have conversations with people who think differently from us. This is also a sermon series at River Corner Church.
Cultural, ideological, personality, and theological differences are inevitable. We encounter people who believe and think differently from us on our social media feeds, around the Thanksgiving table, at work, in our church communities, at the gym, and just about everywhere else. This series is learning how to approach hard conversations in God-honoring ways.
Sometimes, those who think and act differently from us can get on our nerves.
For me, all positions for annoying people in my life have already been filled. Applications are closed. No new candidates are being accepted.
And let me tell you, there are three things that really stress me out:
- First, I find cold days annoying.
- Secondly, I am annoyed by people who are annoying.
- Third, I am annoyed by people who are annoying on cold days.
In this series, we are not discussing how to get along with people who have unusual social or personality quirks. That is one style of annoying.
However, sometimes we allow people who think differently from us to get on our nerves.
When people act differently. Believe differently. Vote differently. Parent differently. Worship differently. Interpret the Bible differently.
We Struggle in Hard Conversations
Most of us struggle to engage with people in a healthy way when they fundamentally disagree with us. Conversations get tense. Emotions rise. We feel misunderstood. Or threatened. Or dismissed.
And most of us were never learned how to have those conversations well.
We’ve all heard the saying: arguing with a fool only proves there are two.
The scriptures say the same thing, “Do not answer a fool according to his folly, or you yourself will be just like him.” (Proverbs 26:4, NIV).
When we aren’t smart with approaching hard conversations, the damage can be done quickly.
The scriptures say that “starting a quarrel is like breaching a dam; so drop the matter before a dispute breaks out” (Proverbs 17:14).
If we’re going to follow Jesus in a divided world, we have to learn how to step into hard conversations — not to dominate, not to humiliate, not to “own” someone — but to understand, to speak truthfully, and to remain rooted in love.
Why? Because the individuals who are different from you aren’t going anywhere.
Our series Hard Conversations is about staying present with one another when life, faith, and relationships get complicated. Instead of withdrawing or reacting in moments of disagreement or difficulty, we’re exploring how God calls and equips us to remain united in love—even when we disagree.
I believe the witness, unity, and effectiveness of the church are threatened when we lose the ability to “stay in relationship.” Differences of opinion are not the problem. The inability to love despite our differences is.
In the first blog post, we saw in John 17 that Jesus prayed for a church marked by unity — reflecting God’s own relational life and witnessing to the world.
Last week in 1 Corinthians 13, Paul reminded us that we don’t know it all, only God does.
This week, we talk about another important affirmation and posture we have to take in hard conversations: “Being loving is as important as being right.”
Being Love is As Important As Being Right
Saying it is as important to love as to be right can feel like a compromise to some people.
This isn’t about abandoning truth and conviction.
It is about holding the truth without being a jerk.
The scriptures tell us the same thing.
- “If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing” (1 Corinthians 13:2, NIV).
- “Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins” (1 Peter 4:8).
Love is truth, and it is what brings truth.
A Look At Galatians 5
I am sure that for many, Galatians 5:13–18 is a familiar passage. However, to understand what Paul is unpacking in Galatians 5:13-18, we need to understand the tension up to this point.
These were young churches planted by Paul and Barnabas, made up of both Jewish and Gentile believers. Into that mix came influential voices claiming Paul hadn’t given the full gospel. Faith in Jesus, they said, wasn’t enough. You also needed to keep certain Jewish practices — including circumcision — to truly belong.
In other words: Jesus plus something else.
And whenever it becomes Jesus plus anything, the gospel is distorted. It doesn’t just tweak theology; it changes who counts as God’s people. It creates tiers — insiders and outsiders — and fractures fellowship. That’s why Paul is so intense.
Legalism, performance, religious metrics — all of it was creeping in and dividing them.
Comparison, confusion, and competition began replacing grace.
Paul offers a different way. A community defined not by hoops or heritage, but by Jesus, the Spirit, and the way of the cross.
They had been running the race very well, Paul says. But Paul then asks in 5:7, “Who cut in on you?” And he warns them, “A little yeast works through the whole batch.”
Paul wants better for them — and for the kind of church Jesus came to create.
Paul Enters the Hard Conversation
I also cannot help but notice that Paul doesn’t avoid the hard conversation; he steps forward. He steps into the mess. He sets the theological tension and, without going into the weeds, sets the right way of thinking straight.
The book of Galatians is the right way to look at things, theologically.
It is also practical—how to live right communally.
Paul models that loving well doesn’t mean we have to avoid the truth.
In naming the truth, but Paul doesn’t launch into a naming-and-shaming campaign. We often do that when we disagree with someone; we try to triangulate others to see them as we see them. He simply says, “The one who is throwing you into confusion, whoever that may be, will have to pay the penalty” (Galatians 5:10, NIV).
Paul doesn’t name them. He doesn’t devour them. But he does let his frustration with them show. In one of the sharpest lines in the New Testament, he says, “As for those agitators, I wish they would go the whole way and emasculate themselves!” (Galatians 5:12, NIV). Stupid people shouldn’t procreate, Paul says. Some of you have thought those thoughts before.
We are warned here to be careful with our theology, because carelessness puts us at odds with God. But we see something practical too.
Paul shows us that it is human to feel annoyed when people distort the truth. It’s human to feel defensive when leaders undermine your work.
But in the middle of that tension — between Paul and these other voices — Paul calls the church to something deeper. That something deeper is what we just read.
It’s about learning to be loving, not just right.
Truth is Truth
Throughout the letter, Paul reminds them of a foundational theological truth they cannot abandon: they already belong to Christ. They are already part of the promise made to Abraham.
Jesus gave himself for our sins. He rescued us from the present age. He brought us into God’s family. There are no extra hoops. No additional requirements.
That’s the foundation. We must hold to that foundation too. That is the middle ground for those with whom we disagree.
And because that’s true, Paul now tells them how they must respond — how to live as this Jesus-shaped new creation.
However, Galatians 5:13–18 shows us what this new life in Christ must look like.
The real danger is not just theological error in the abstract. The danger is that it tears apart the kind of community Jesus came to create.
Family is Important
Paul addresses them as adelphoi. Older translations say “brothers,” but the word is broader than that. It’s a family word. He is reminding them that they belong to one another. You are not rivals. You are not factions. You are family.
He tells them they were called to be free. And they are free.
But freedom does not mean chaos. And it doesn’t mean going backward. They can’t return to the law as their identity marker. They can’t drift into the world’s patterns either. Both are “flesh” — human systems of control and self-assertion.
So what should define them?
“Serve one another humbly in love.”
Paul anchors their community in tension and disagreement, deeply rooted in what Jesus taught: “Love your neighbor as yourself” (5:14). This isn’t sentimental. It’s covenantal. It’s costly. It’s concrete.
And then he gives the warning.
If, in your disagreements — in your theological debates, in your hard conversations — you are not loving your neighbor as yourself, if you are not serving one another in humility, you will devour each other.
You will live in constant conflict.
When you have bad theology, you will reduce faith to rule-keeping, and when law takes over, grace thins out quickly. Everything unravels.
Paul’s point is clear.
The world is fractured. If permitted, false voices will create tension and disagreement. That part is inevitable. We must hold on to truth, and truth needs community holding each other to it.
What is not inevitable is how the church responds in hard conversations.
Being right matters. Paul wrote this letter because truth matters. But in the kingdom of God, truth is never weaponized against family.
Paul is even loving in how he is dealing with heretics, but false teachers are outside the church; if we aren’t careful, they will have us devour each other. When sibling rivalry takes place, everything falls apart. That’s Paul’s point in Galatians 5.
Love is not opposed to truth.
Love is the way truth lives in community.
If we fight for rightness without love, we lose the very thing we’re trying to defend.
The way to remain faithful to the truth is to remain rooted in love.
Speaking About Truth in Love in 2026
In 2026, some of the most divisive topics center around politics, national identity, immigration, race, gender and sexuality, and the role of faith in public life. Add to that debates over technology, AI, economic inequality, war, and global instability, and you have a culture where convictions run deep, and disagreements often turn personal.
There are right ways to think about many of these things. The scriptures are clear on some of these things. However, how we read them often differs. Who we let influence us changes how we read things. And then, disagreement turns adversarial fast.
That is the Galatian church problem, and ours too.
The question is unavoidable: will the church mirror the world’s divisions, or model something different?
Into that tension, Paul says, “You were called to be free.” But don’t use your freedom to serve yourselves. “Serve one another humbly in love.” “Love your neighbor as yourself.” This is the way of the Spirit.
Pursuing what is right matters. Christianity is not an excuse for intellectual laziness. We should study Scripture carefully, think deeply, and seriously wrestle together with the cultural and political realities around us. Faithfulness requires effort.
But saying love is central doesn’t diminish truth. It puts truth in its proper place.
So what do we do if we conclude that a sister or brother in Christ is deeply wrong about a moral, ethical, or theological issue? Paul modeled a way for the Galatians. If we believe a brother or sister is deeply wrong on an important issue, the question is not whether truth matters — it does. The question is whether our response is governed by love.
- We choose to love, not devour.
Knowing the truth should never lead us to bite and consume one another. Paul warns that if we devour each other, we will destroy ourselves. Jesus reminds us that the measure we use will be measured back to us. We don’t have to compromise our convictions, but we must let love govern how we hold them. Jesus loves each of us in our own wrong-headedness. We can extend that same love to others. - We seek restoration with gentleness.
To love our neighbor is to want their good. That’s why Paul says, “You who live by the Spirit should restore that person gently” (Galatians 6:1). In a world where people shout past one another, we practice careful listening and patient persuasion. Persuasion itself can be an act of love. Angry arguments rarely change hearts. Online debates almost never produce transformation. But a lack of gentleness and respect can easily push people away from Christ. - We speak the truth and release the outcome.
Paul confronts the Galatians because he loves them. He speaks clearly and hopes they will be convinced, but he knows only the Spirit can bring conviction. Even Paul experienced sharp disagreement with Barnabas and John Mark — friends and partners in ministry — and they had to part ways for a time. Sometimes we cannot bring someone to our perspective. Our responsibility is to speak faithfully and love consistently, and trust God with the results.
Closing Thoughts
Let’s be honest, you’re going to have a hard conversation this week.
When you do, remember what we said the first week: make a full STOP, see the image of God in the other person. Trust they have good intent where you can. Observe for common ground. Pray for unity and for God’s blessing over them. Last week, we said, Look at the person. Come ready to learn. Listen carefully. Choose to love the person.
This week, take a step closer into the hard conversation — gently. Don’t devour. Speak the truth clearly, but release the outcome to God.
Being right matters.
But if being right costs you love, you’ve already lost something more important.
This series is part of a sermon series at River Corner Church. You can watch it as it was preached on our website or in the video below.
Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In