It is easier to see our own faults in others. Hence, when the Prophet Nathan rebuked King David, he began with a story that provided David an illustration of his own sin. That allowed David to see both his sin and the appropriate punishment. That understanding brought David to repentance (see 2 Samuel 12:1-15 => https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2+Samuel+12%3A1-15&version=NASB).
Because it is easier to see our own faults in others, I sometimes suppose that that is why God gave us a whole world to observe. So it is that it occurred to me that I should reblog Don Merritt’s post. It contains good advice for all of us.
As Christians we should not allow ourselves to be angered by our political opponents. We should pray for them. We should consider our own conduct, and we should consider the possibility that our opponents will probably find a soft, reasonable answer more difficult to stomach.
Instead of being angry, we should look for a reasonable compromise. If our opponents are in the wrong, they know it. A calm display of honest, true and loyal love may not immediately change their minds, but it will shame them.
As Christians we have the most cause to appreciate the weight of the burden we left at the foot of the cross. It is because we have left it at the cross that we understand the immense weight of that burden.
Therefore, we should know that the best thing we can do for angry people is to remain calm and allow them to feel the weight of their burden of sin. When we can, we should wait until they become desperate to be rid of it, desperate enough to repent and turn to Jesus as we once did, and still do.
It is God who saves, not an angry argument.
This past week, there has been so much I’ve wanted to write about that my brain has gone on some kind of a sensory overload, and I haven’t been quite able to write about any of it. Oh I’ve tried, I lost count of how many drafts I’ve deleted about the Charlottesville business, and then Barcelona came to the fore. I’ve tried to write about Mr. Trump and then my head explodes…
Maybe it’s because I’m trying to get settled into a new house. Maybe it’s because I’ve been ill. Maybe I’m just losing my mind, or I’m out of practice; I don’t know, but I haven’t gotten anything written that I’ve wanted to write about.
I can tell you that after I gave the flooring guy a deadline for completion of our floor, he got his act together and finished on time a week ago Wednesday. We moved last…
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Thanks for sharing this Tom. There is so much anger out there over the slightest of issues. I posted a link on my FB page about how Airbnb was offering free rooms for Harvey evacuees and it somehow sparked an argument about neighborhood zoning laws. I just sat back and watched but it honestly took my breath away at how quickly hate dominated the conversation.
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When people make it all about me, what “I” want, hatred tends to dominate the discussion.
The Book of James is very practical, sort of a manual for living. When we get mad at someone, we need to examine our motives. Here is one of my favorite verses.
When we are truly thinking about what is best for our neighbors, we can be more objective. Moreover, we get angry about the bad behavior of other people, not those other people themselves. When people are deliberately misbehaving, we understand they are risking damnation. To some extent, that should move us to pity because had we not been born again that would have been our own fate.
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You know, Tom… there are times where it’s so obvious that you fear your “opponents” so much that you raise scripture as if raising the cross in the face of invading vampires to repel them, lest you become infected. Why does political discourse, debate, or diversity require using the Bible as a shield?
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I responded here.
=> https://citizentom.com/2017/08/30/why-does-political-discourse-debate-or-diversity-require-using-the-bible-as-a-shield/
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