I have had my physical health affected in a new way of late, and the conflicts between those I believe are genuine believers seems to exacerbate things. I so want to have peace between people I care about.
Some people take their stand on truth and others on love, but it is so important to speak truth in love.
It's a difficult balance, and I'm no better than others. It isn't just a matter of how we are online. It's a matter of who we are offline. God knows it all.
God is at work in each of His children. I think that some issues should be dealt with publicly, but there are many times I believe they should be dealt with privately. There must be wisdom to know the difference. Confrontation should always be for the sake of restoration. It is easy to be angry or prideful, and I think those are sins many of us struggle with. If someone turns out not to be a Christian, then we can point to the Gospel.
I started to compose a blog post once upon a time when I was having online conflict, but I never posted it. I decided it was one of those cases where I could choose to forgive unilaterally.
What is below has that post as its base:
I need to love and forgive my brothers in Christ while not compromising truth.
Just as the Lord forgives us, so also should we (Colossians 3:13).
1 Peter 3:8-9 tells me not to return insult for insult, to be kind-hearted, and harmonious.
Amongst Christians, we need to remember we are brothers and sisters and not enemies.
Romans 12:-9-21 goes further talking about how Christians should behave and talks about respecting what is right in the sight of all men. So far as it depends on me I should be at peace with all men.
God will punish the evil in this world, so I just need to warn people of His justice and and not seek my own vengeance. Perhaps God will show mercy, and there will come repentance. He is in charge of who repents...not I. This doesn't mean sin shouldn't be confronted or that we should disobey God (Acts 5:28-29).
We need to seek the good of others (Philippians 2:1-11), rather than just to blow them out of the water or ridicule them.
Christians are lights in the world, and we diminish our lights before the world when our focus gets off the glory of Christ and His Gospel.
I would appreciate prayer for wisdom in knowing how and when to respond to situations online that I see which cause me distress and sorrow.
Some people take their stand on truth and others on love, but it is so important to speak truth in love.
It's a difficult balance, and I'm no better than others. It isn't just a matter of how we are online. It's a matter of who we are offline. God knows it all.
God is at work in each of His children. I think that some issues should be dealt with publicly, but there are many times I believe they should be dealt with privately. There must be wisdom to know the difference. Confrontation should always be for the sake of restoration. It is easy to be angry or prideful, and I think those are sins many of us struggle with. If someone turns out not to be a Christian, then we can point to the Gospel.
I started to compose a blog post once upon a time when I was having online conflict, but I never posted it. I decided it was one of those cases where I could choose to forgive unilaterally.
What is below has that post as its base:
I need to love and forgive my brothers in Christ while not compromising truth.
Just as the Lord forgives us, so also should we (Colossians 3:13).
1 Peter 3:8-9 tells me not to return insult for insult, to be kind-hearted, and harmonious.
Amongst Christians, we need to remember we are brothers and sisters and not enemies.
Romans 12:-9-21 goes further talking about how Christians should behave and talks about respecting what is right in the sight of all men. So far as it depends on me I should be at peace with all men.
God will punish the evil in this world, so I just need to warn people of His justice and and not seek my own vengeance. Perhaps God will show mercy, and there will come repentance. He is in charge of who repents...not I. This doesn't mean sin shouldn't be confronted or that we should disobey God (Acts 5:28-29).
We need to seek the good of others (Philippians 2:1-11), rather than just to blow them out of the water or ridicule them.
Christians are lights in the world, and we diminish our lights before the world when our focus gets off the glory of Christ and His Gospel.
I would appreciate prayer for wisdom in knowing how and when to respond to situations online that I see which cause me distress and sorrow.
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