1 Corinthians 2:16 "…15 The spiritual man judges all things, but he himself is not subject to anyone’s judgment. 16“For who has known the mind of the Lord, so as to instruct Him?” But we have the mind of Christ."
I have been told on several occasions that "we should say it (while sharing truth) in such a way that they will receive it." As though, if they do not receive it, then we must have done something wrong. This is humanistic psychology, that people automatically react right if the delivery is right. This sounds right on the surface, until we examine what happened to Christ. Did He say things the wrong way or sin so that the people hated Him? NO, He is God and said and did everything perfectly, but they still hated Him.
The apostles were persecuted and martyred, not because they didn't say it right, they were persecuted because rebellious people didn't like the message.
John 15:17-19 "17 This is My command to you: Love one another. 18 If the world hates you, understand that it hated Me first. 19 If you were of the world, it would love you as its own. Instead, the world hates you, because you are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world.…"
2 Timothy 4:2 "1 I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of His appearing and His kingdom: 2 Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and encourage with every form of patient instruction. 3 For the time will come when men will not tolerate sound doctrine, but with itching ears they will gather around themselves teachers to suit their own desires.…"
When we are accused of not saying something in love, and believe you me, they will tell you that you were mean when you say something in the mildest terms, simply to arouse feelings of failure in us and to influence others looking on, that we are what they claim.
Their goal is merely to intimidate you into feeling bad about speaking at all. We must ignore that accusation, knowing that they hated the message, not the delivery, so they use the delivery as an excuse to demean us and negate what we say.
I can't tell you the number of times I have been accused of a mean delivery when all I did was quote Scripture. In other words, quoting God is mean if it makes them feel guilty about their sin.
The devil loves to intimidate and manipulate believers into silence. There is no more effective way to stop the mouth of anyone, than to accuse them of things they are not doing, but their enemy is doing.
Good people who love Christ are sensitive to being loving. Being accused of not being loving makes them stop what others think is the unloving act. Kind people are easily intimidated because they can't stand the thought of harming anyone, which is why the devil uses their own sensitivity to righteousness against them.
If we are not deeply in the Word and led by the Holy Spirit, we are intimidated by accusations of being unloving. The only way we can keep going in strength, ignoring the lies against us, continuing to faithfully speak truth, is if we are impervious to the false accusations, knowing they are merely lies to stop us.
We don't have to worry whether or not others accusations are true, we can go to God asking if it is true. When we have done something that is not right or in a bad tone, the Holy Spirit will convict us of it. When someone accuses us, but we don't sense any conviction from the Holy Spirit, we can be sure that the accusations are false and manipulative.
The more discerning we are, the faster we are going to be able to see if someone is attempting to intimidate and manipulate us. We will also see fewer mistakes in what we do, because we are allowing the Holy Spirit to be the one to speak through us.
Bottom line: Let Christ in us do the speaking, know His word, speak it when led by Him and do not look back to analyze it.
Romans 5:12-14 "…12 And once more, Isaiah says: “The root of Jesse will appear, One who will arise to rule over the Gentiles; in Him the Gentiles will put their hope.”
13 Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you believe in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.
14 I myself am convinced, my brothers, that you yourselves are full of goodness, brimming with knowledge, and able to instruct one another.…"
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