Merry Christmas everyone and welcome back to Tuesday Talks With Titus!

How do we, as Christians approach conversations with people who may not be easy to talk to? The normal reaction is to not deal with it at all and avoid the conversation. Though as we will find out, avoiding difficult conversations leads to a generation that doesn't speak to anyone because no one agrees on everything. 

Recently, I had to choose whether to avoid a difficult conversation or not. I saw people holding signs stating "Protect trans kids!" I had a simple question I wanted to ask, "what does that look like?" I  head in their direction but then turned around...more than once. I was scared! I didn't want to be thought of as hateful or rude but I wanted to ask that simple question. Eventually, I got the courage to ask my question. One one the people answered, "making sure they feel heard and loved". The first thing that came to mind was that's what everyone should have and can have in Jesus, but I knew I had some work to do to get that far, so I replied, "I guess the biggest thing I want to know is should kids be allowed to have sex-change (Gender Reassignment) surgery?" Her reply was "I personally think that that's a decision that should be made when their an adult." You definitely want to find something that you can agree on with the other person in a difficult conversation. Even though we didn't fully agree that the transgender movement is wrong, we found some middle-ground in that surgeries should not be allowed for kids! She continued, " I guess there is some cases where it would be fine. For example, my brother had a friend in kindergarten who could only ever want to be a girl, he screamed and yelled whenever his parents gave him boy clothes. I'm pretty confident that he is now a girl." I replied "When I was 5 I LOVED Charlie and the Chocolate Factory! I loved to pretend to be Charlie or Willy Wonka and probably would not have minded living as one of them, as you can see, I didn't want to permanently stay as one of those people. It goes the same way for kids that want to be mermaids, princes, princesses, a girl, a boy, etc.. The next day they will may want to be something else." Her response was "That's actually a good point, I'll have to think on that one.". I'll tell y'all the same thing I told her to end the conversation, "When we stop talking about things we disagree on our generation will crumble!". This is a very common thing you'll see in more cases than one. One example is in marriage. When two people become husband and wife, they become one person! But, when half of who you are doesn't know anything about the other half, how do they work together?

 My biggest regret from this conversation is not sharing the gospel! I had the chance to talk with someone who was fairly receptive to most everything I said and was at least willing to think about what I told her! It was a bridge opportunity that in all honesty I missed. Don't make this mistake! Take every opportunity to share the gospel, because one day it will be too late.  

It's important to keep in mind when having such conversations, that it is not about winning an argument, it's about helping the other person to think critically! Think about it like contacts, they may be a little irritating, especially in the beginning, but they help you see the world more clear, BUT they are NOT made to be irritating. Don't go into a conversation wanting to prove you are right and the other person is wrong! Go into those conversations to build a relationship and prayerfully get the chance through those conversations to talk about Jesus.

It's "the most wonderful time of the year" again! I absolutely love this time of year with all the decorations, the joy of giving and receiving, hot cocoa, and of course the best part of all of it is that we get to highlight Jesus birth, the greatest gift of all! I know you are going to hear the Christmas story a LOT so I wont get into that. What I do want to talk about is keeping the "Christmas spirit" going all year round! It can seem people are at their best on Christmas day (or at least try to be.) But why? The simple reason for most, is because that's what they want their families to see. But how can we quit putting on a show and start being a joyful person for real? Let's see what James 1:2 says: "Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds," 

Part of being a joyful person, is not letting the tough stuff in your life effect you in a negative way and to count those trials as joy! It sounds simple but it takes a ton of hard work to rewire your thinking to count suffering as joy. There have been multiple times in my life where joy is the last thing I wanted to feel. (Please remember joy is not always happiness but rather its being content and trusting God with things that are to come!)

The problem for most who are suffering, and I've been there, is that you WANT to remain is bitterness and pain. I know it sounds crazy, who wants to remain in pain and bitterness? Sometimes, somehow we think it feels good or comfortable to be miserable. Its common to as  a human to like to take the easy route. When it comes to suffering, the easy route is allowing the suffering to continue by not putting it into a Biblical context...which again is A LOT of work. 

My dad recently preached on bitterness (which can come from multiple sources, but is often at its root a lack of forgiveness that overtime steals more and more of our thoughts...and yes, our joy) and one of the things he said was "we need to give that bitterness to God!". What if our bitterness is directed towards God? Give it to Him anyway! He wants you to be joyful he doesn't want you to suffer, but suffering is apart of life after the fall. Suffering hurts bad but what may be hurting you worse is holding on to that hurt.

How we deal with suffering is up to what we allow God to do with our suffering through the Holy Spirit.          

As this is the last episode of the year, I wanted to dig into new years resolutions! If you didn't already know, new years resolutions are something that you choose to start doing or stop doing for the upcoming year. I actually believe this is a great thing to adopt as a Christian! But make them realistic, and attainable...and realize with any goal there is work to be done to accomplish that goal. So wrapping this episode and this year up, I want you to think about one thing. In what way are you going to strive to look more like Jesus next year? It can be anything, how will you look more like Jesus? Think of some practical step that you can start...even today before the New Year's resolution fad goes into full swing. 

Thank y'all for an amazing year please continue to share these episodes and like and comment! We will see you next year on Tuesday Talks With Titus!