Please,help me provide a COMPASSIONATE yet protective answer?

without giving all the personal details..
I have a a loved one,whom ive had to stop talking to
I hadnt spoken to this person for a long time,i forgive them,
but in order for me to be a productive human being

ive had to basically cut ties..well quite some time has passed
and this person emailed for awhile..my heart went out to them.
so after GREAT consideration..i decided i would correspond with them through email..boundaries,and you know its less personal...........it was hard for me to even allow THAT back in my life
ANYWAY,i never changed my phone#..it wasnt neccesary
but now this person is calling QUITE upset and is demanding to know why i will communicate through email and not the telephone..this person is very unstable,but i love very much

how can i choose my words ever so carefully to explain this to them,(if it were a emotionally healthy indivudual,i would know)

but PLEASE..how should i respond to this
without causing the person,to lash out at me again??
thanks

btw..i posted here as sort of a
WWJD thing??..ya know..

I would tell the person pretty much what you have just said.

Tell them that you do care and have love for him/her, but based on what has happened, you feel that it is better to not have contact outside of the email.

Tell him/her that you would be happy to continue to correspond via email, but to not call or attempt to have a face to face meeting. Tell them you are not comfortable with it and if he/she wants any kind of contact, it will have to remain email contact. Warn the person that if he/she violates this, you will have no option but to get a court order of protection.

The worse thing you can do with an unstable person is to beat around the bush with them. Be clear and firm. When you are not, then they read what they want into it, building up false ideas in their own mind. BE CLEAR AND FIRM!!

Good luck!

tough one . Ask HIM what you need to do.

that's a tough one. Let's take someone who is bi-polar for example and won't take medication, or they take it inconsistently. I don't know if there is any way you can tell them without them lashing out, no matter how nicely you say it. I would just say it in email as nicely as you can. Not a lot more you can do.

do you want the person to go to hell? to pay for their sin?

no?? then you HAVE forgiven them...

do you want the best? do you pray they're delivered?

yes?? then you HAVE blessed them....

sometimes we are meant to just move on from relationships and not look back....

Acts 15:36-39
And some days after Paul said unto Barnabas, Let us go again and visit our brethren in every city where we have preached the word of the LORD, and see how they do.

And Barnabas determined to take with them John, whose surname was Mark.

But Paul thought not good to take him with them, who departed from them from Pamphylia, and went not with them to the work.

And the contention was so sharp between them, that they departed asunder one from the other: and so Barnabas took Mark, and sailed unto Cyprus;

Honestly, I would change my number, and slowly cut back on the email until you cut back to zero contact.

You stopped contact for a reason, and now you're being reminded of the person's instability.

I don't think that if the person is that unstable as to demand a reason for email but not phone contact they have NO respect for you, and the situation is just going to escalate.

I would not talk on the phone with this person, and seriously cut back on the email and scale back slowly til there is no more contact.

Jesus didn't maintain friendships with the Sadducees or the other religious leaders of his day. He said to his disciples to shake the dust off of their feet in the cities in which they were not welcomed. Some friendships are like that. If this friend bugs you by phone get caller id and don't answer when they call or change your number. I'm like that towards my own mother but she doesn't call too much. (she's lied to me about stuff ALL my life) I'm civil but distant. I can't promise that they won't lash out, hopefully you don't live too close to this friend! just do some editing of your question and tell them straight like you wrote it. hope this helps

Grace and peace to you.
You did not say if this person lashed out physically or not, if not then just tell them frankly just how you feel, and let them know the truth, that is the best way, keep it clear and honest.
If on the other hand this person has become physical, go to the authorities and get a PPO, personal protection order, this will help you in every aspect of this situation, you have to protect your self.

Peace.