Skip to main content

Trying to Be Too Nice

Proverbs 28:23

"He who rebukes a man will in the end gain more favor than he who has a flattering tongue."

All the work I put in to make sure I'm not stepping on anyone's toes, and trying not to be judgmental (which of course, I still shouldn't be), it's good to hear from God that it's ok to correct at times.  And correcting others is not always bad.

We live in a day where inclusiveness and acceptance is the only approved stance, but not all things are acceptable.  And who gets to draw that line, anyway?  Those who consider themselves repressed or marginalized?  Those who consider themselves persecuted?

No, I don't have to be accepted or approved by you.  I know I am approved by God.  And only God can judge and will judge the deeds of the righteous and the wicked.  I'm not to be downright confrontational, but I don't have to be a suck-up either.  My Savior never was.  He was strong and gentle.  He was caring and He corrected.  He stood for truth and was relentless and ruthless against deceit and wickedness.  He gave His life in sacrifice and in certainty that His cause was worth it.  And He was not deterred from His mission.

I don't recommend getting into arguments with others thinking you are "correcting" them.  Allow the Holy Spirit to gently prod your heart for times when speaking truth to someone who is willing to receive it, will be welcomed.  And you don't have to go out of your way to flatter your neighbor so they will approve of you and believe you are a nice person.  It's unnecessary.  You are approved by God.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Mic Check

  1 Peter 3: 15 “Instead, you must worship Christ as Lord of your life.    And if someone asks about your hope as a believer, always be ready to explain it.” 2 Timothy 4 “Preach the word of God.   Be prepared, whether the time is favorable or not.   Patiently correct, rebuke, and encourage your people with good teaching.”   I missed an opportunity to preach the Good News at my father’s 70 th birthday party with all our friends and family gathered together to celebrate my dad.   What a wonderful time we had.   And I was holding the mic and recounted an early childhood memory but I had also planned to speak about a time when my dad and I were on the phone and having a deep conversation about life and some loved ones who had passed away. It was a difficult time and it seemed we had lost too many friends and family members one right after the other.   I grew up in the church, thanks to my mom’s dedication to get my brother and I there, whether we wanted to go or not.   My dad only r
Post a Comment
Read more

On Marriage and Family

A strong family is the backbone to a thriving society.   And I was shaped by a strong family.   My mother and father have been married for 38 years and counting and I grew up in the same home all of my life.   I consider my upbringing to have been very sheltered compared to many, but I never felt like I missed out on anything.    I have numerous happy memories and some sad ones too.   I've made my fair share of really bad decisions in life, but I ultimately feel equipped to be able to get through this thing called life.   Why is this important?   Well, the fabric and culture of our society is moving farther away from traditional family households.  We are less and less concerned about who is raising our children.   We are increasingly concerned about how we look physically, and not even on the health of our bodies (which might be okay) but just the shape of them.   We are increasingly sexifying our generation and the ones to come.   We are more concerned about going viral tha
Post a Comment
Read more

The Woman I'm Meant To Be

Sometimes I’m really hard on myself.   There is a disparity between where I am and where I want to be.   I’ll never be perfect, and that’s never been my burden.   I’ve always wanted to do my best.   And I feel an incredible sense of satisfaction when I’ve given my best effort.   When you know you’ve left it all out on the field, when you’ve given it your all, when you’ve fought till your last breath.   There is a sense of peace when you live there, and I want to live there more often than not. Living there requires passion.   That’s where some get lost.   Not knowing what their passion is.   To give your all, there has to be something that you care enough about that you’ll exhaust yourself, staying up late to get it done.   You’ll wake up early to get closer to achieving it.   There isn’t anything easy about it, except loving it.   So, that’s what drives you to keep pressing toward it.   As the apostle Paul said in Philippians 3:13, “Brothers, I do not consider myself to have taken hol
Post a Comment
Read more