Why such sour people on this forum?

[Justin Adams]

14 hours ago, MyLordsServant said:

Why such sour people on this forum?

Hopefully, this is what the world sees...

Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted. (Galatians 6:1)

Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. (Ephesians 4:2)
and do not give the devil a foothold (Ephesians 4:27)

Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you. (Ephesians 4:32)

Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. (Colossians 3:12)

Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. (Colossians 3:1)

And the Lord’s servant must not quarrel; instead, he must be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful. (2 Timothy 2:2)

In meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth; (2 Timothy 2:25)

Edited December 9, 2017 by Justin Adams

[GandalfTheWise]

24 And the servant of the Lord must not strive; but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient, 25 in meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth; 26 and that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at his will. (II Tim 2:24-26 AV)

24 And the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but must be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful. 25 Opponents must be gently instructed, in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth,26 and that they will come to their senses and escape from the trap of the devil,who has taken them captive to do his will. (II Tim 2:24-26 NIV)

These verses in II Timothy clearly associate godly character and behavior with the act of correction.  Not being quarrelsome, not striving, being gentle, being kind, being patient, not being resentful, gently instructing, in meekness instructing, being apt to teach, and being able to teach are directly tied to the servant of the Lord instructing people.  These things are NOT options.  They are requirements.  They are not so much tied to  being right, but rather our motivation and degree of spiritual maturity.  People who are not spiritually mature enough to exhibit this type  of fruit of the Spirit when they are expressing themselves are not mature enough to effectively engage in confrontation without just generating a bunch of strife and arguing.

From the perspective of lurkers, seekers, new Christians, and others who read this forum, who is most convincing in the points they make?  People who quietly and gently ask good questions, offer sound spiritual insights, and exhibit politeness?  Those who stridently and repeatedly argue about how they are the ones with the real Truth? Those who blame most of the escalation of heated exchanges on threads with those who they are arguing with?   I've seen things on this site that fit the legal definition of libel and could get someone sued.  But that that seems to be okay to some people because it's telling the truth even when it's a false accusation because those terrible sinners probably did something bad anyway.  These types of things largely discredit any attempts at correction.  Who is more credible and to be believed?  Someone who conducts themselves in a manner that clearly exhibits fruit of the Spirit or one who does not?

The biggest concern I have is the elements of resentment, anger, frustration, and arrogance that creep into so-called godly correction and reproof.  Correction and reproof is NOT about immediately jumping onto everything we think is spiritually wrong and trying to address it and constantly harping about it.  It is a spiritual exercise that needs to be empowered by the Holy Spirit and through His direction.  To the extent God is leading reproof and correction, good spiritual results will follow.  To the extent people are doing it in their own strength and understanding, it will be largely fruitless and characterized by strife.

I know.  I used to be great defender of the faith.  No error was too small to be ignored and corrected.  Gentleness, kindness, meekness?  Of course I was being loving!  People not listening?  Not my problem if they are so hard-hearted they don't repent.   Eventually God convicted me that not every problem I saw was my responsibility to address.  He also convicted me that I was responsible for the entirety of the message I was speaking including the words, the way they were spoken, the timing of when they were spoken, my motives, my attitude, and me making every possible effort to not cause offense because of my own obnoxiousness and rudeness and clumsiness.  I started to find that when I offered correction and reproof at God's leading that I saw much more fruit born from it.  That's because He started to lead me into situations where I could be effective at it.

 

 

 

 

[MorningGlory]

Who are you calling sour, Servant??? 

[frienduff thaylorde]

This is all I will say on the subject.

IF JESUS were to return as a man.    and go on websites or in churches.

The vast majority of people would call him a hater ,  legalistic ,  a judger for correcting .

Heck most would say MAN you don't know GOD , you don't know love, YOU NEED JESUS.  AND THAT IS A FACT> 

[frienduff thaylorde]

6 hours ago, MorningGlory said:

Who are you calling sour, Servant??? 

Poor cat looks like it just got stuck in a two day meeting with interfaith concepts.  

[Sower]

59 minutes ago, frienduff thaylorde said:

7 hours ago, MorningGlory said:

Poor cat looks like it just got stuck in a two day meeting with interfaith concepts.  

Actually, the bewildered cat is wondering why it's owner is making him look the  fool in public......

[Equippers]

On 9/12/2017 at 6:26 PM, MyLordsServant said:

Why such sour people on this forum?

by sour people you mean hateful human beings?

[Justmemyselfandi]

2 minutes ago, Equippers said:

by sour people you mean hateful human beings?

Most likely staunch people.

[Equippers]

Just now, Justmemyselfandi said:

Most likely staunch people.

yeah.....

love means assume the best of others......

God bless.

[MorningGlory]

23 hours ago, Gary Lee said:

Actually, the bewildered cat is wondering why it's owner is making him look the  fool in public......

That's Grumpy Cat, the multimillionaire feline.  She always looks sour because she was born with Feline Mongolism, a birth defect.  I just LOVE Grumpy Cat.