tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3696976554511511813.post2912808050066963629..comments2023-12-25T19:32:07.617-05:00Comments on Without Spot or Blemish Ministry Blog Spot: Being a Real Christian Means Being HonestWithout Spot or Blemish Blog Spothttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00905186294604368186noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3696976554511511813.post-67360958832298151982009-02-18T10:39:00.000-05:002009-02-18T10:39:00.000-05:00I have to say that though your post focuses heavil...I have to say that though your post focuses heavily on how men should respond, the meat of the message is good for women, as well.<BR/><BR/>Two comments:<BR/>First, I think that many people think of Christ's suffering as a horrible thing, but that since He knew the end of it with certainty, then it was somehow easier for Him to plow on through it and fight the good fight than it would be for any of us. That is, not just the physical pain, but the ridicule and ostracism you mentioned above. However, while listening to a program on the radio the other day, it struck me... It was when they were talking about the Trinity and how hard a concept that is to understand (and how we don't really "understand" it so much as "accept" it as truth because we have no reference for it in our present life). The speaker mentioned that Christ was fully God, and everyone focusses on that, but to remember that He was also FULLY MAN. (And for math people...two "wholes" don't make one "whole" except in a divine instance, a normal person cannot be "fully" two different things in our understanding, so just stop thinking about the "how" of that or your head will hurt. It just IS.) Applying that to the material in this post, that meant that though yes, He did divinely know the outcome, He was still human, and would still have the desire to fit in, not be ostracized, and certainly the desire to avoid the pain that would go with the ridicule. (The Bible even says He was tempted in every way like we are and yet didn't sin.) So consider that if you fall into the pattern of thinking that "oh, it was easier for Him...He is God, after all".<BR/><BR/>Second, a completely different train. If you love someone, and you tell them the truth, they may get mad, leave, assault you verbally back. But, if they also love you, then they will either accept the advice they see as good...or they'll calm down later and see the wisdom of it and accept it later...or even if they don't accept the advice itself, they will accept the spirit in which it was given, once they think about it and about what it meant to you to tell them. (Now, if you're snotty or self-righteous or yelling about it...that is, you are expressing even righteous anger in an unrighteous or violent way or a spirit of pride, they are unlikely to see that you had their good at heart.) <BR/><BR/>I had an experience like this just the other day. One of my friends was taking out their anger verbally on someone who totally did not deserve it...just wrong place, wrong time to get the brunt of my friend's anger due to other circumstances. I said so, and pointed out the real reason for my friend's anger, and told them bluntly that they were doing wrong to take it out on what amounted to an innocent bystander. My friend was already in an angry mood, and he looked at me threateningly and even went so far as to shake his finger in my face as if to say "you're next on my mad list", and he gave me a look like if this person HAD been the type to hit someone, their fist would be headed right for my face. Of course, my friend is NOT the hitting kind of person, but I certainly think they would have LIKED to at that point. But then, it was like a light bulb went on and they saw that they were doing something unjust and that I was saying truly what I saw, and they backed off. And from then on, the relationship was healed.<BR/>(On a side note: This is a good friend who is also unafraid to tell me when I am doing something unbecoming or wrong. I hope I am as gracious to forgive immediately on seeing that I'm in the wrong...and to notice I'm in the wrong at all when corercted...as he is.)Calinda Lucashttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05792960136447578111noreply@blogger.com