We've all been there. A close friend or family member says or does something that we know to be wrong,

and we think we should probably talk to them about it.

But so often we don't know how, or maybe we worry that we won't say the right thing, or worse,

we'll come across as judgmental or harsh, even though we're just trying to help.

In our interview today, I'm talking with two counselors with years of experience having hard

conversations with others, conversations that put the focus on what God has said, not their own

opinions. Cheryl Marshall and Caroline Neuheiser are the authors of,

When Words Matter Most, Speaking Truth with Grace to Those You Love from Crossway.

Let's get started.

Well, Cheryl and Caroline, thank you so much for joining me today on the Crossway podcast.

Oh, we're happy to be here. I'm glad to be here. So at various points in, I think, all of our lives,

will each face situations where we need to have a hard conversation with somebody. And probably for most

of us, maybe not all of us, but most of us,

we would probably feel some level of anxiety about that. We don't really love the need to do that,

even though sometimes we feel like we do need to do that. Cheryl, can you resonate with that

feeling of kind of feeling anxious about a hard conversation?

Definitely. I mean, there's so many times in our Christian walk when we're, we see someone that we love and we care about,

and maybe they're struggling with sin or they're struggling under some kind of suffering.

And we may feel like we want to speak with them, but we might not

always know what to say. And so I have definitely felt that way. I've felt that way with my own children.

I mean, with those that I love, those who are closest to me, when I see something that is going on

in their lives and I need to speak with them about it, that can be hard.

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