2 Timothy 2:24-26
"And a servant of the Lord must not quarrel but be gentle to all, able to teach, patient, 25 in humility correcting those who are in opposition, if God perhaps will grant them repentance, so that they may know the truth, 26 and that they may come to their senses and escape the snare of the devil, having been taken captive by him to do his will."
Social media and talking heads have trained us to perfect the art of quarrelling, when Scripture calls us to teach gently and patiently.
Yesterday I was at a conference in Hartland that in part addressed proposal 3 on our ballot Nov. I asked the speaker what we can do to fight it, and his answer was this: Talk to people you know who are in the middle on this. Extended family members who might be against abortion themselves, but want to give others “freedom of choice.”
Really? Freedom to kill babies? With no restrictions, no need for parental approval, whatever the age? You see, gentleness doesn’t mean mincing words.
But we should not berate or insult. In one sense, people swear because they don’t have a better vocabulary. We insult others in our thoughts, we are just repulsed by the Left, say, because we aren’t ready with an answer for the hope that is within us. Gentleness means loving our enemies as we seek to persuade them of the truth. The temptation to frustration and ungodly wrath is strong, but we must not be overcome by evil. Rather, overcome evil with good.
10/9/22
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