God's Biblical Love
1 Corinthians 13:4-8
4 Love is patient, love is kind, it is not jealous; love does not brag, it is not arrogant.
5 It does not act disgracefully, it does not seek its own benefit; it is not provoked, does not keep an account of a wrong suffered,
6 it does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; 7 it keeps every confidence, it believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
What God hates:
Proverbs 6:16-19
16 There are six things that the Lord hates,
Seven that are an abomination to Him:
17 Haughty eyes, a lying tongue,
And hands that shed innocent blood,
18 A heart that devises wicked plans,
Feet that run rapidly to evil,
19 A false witness who declares lies,
And one who [b]spreads strife among brothers."
We can "be" the love God speaks of in His Word, through consulting the Holy Spirit and Scripture constantly. And, by not enabling bad behavior but by refusing to become like those who abuse others.
Notice I said "be" the love God speaks of, because we will not continue in love if we just "do" what is right, we will do what is right without thinking when we "are" permeated with the Love of Christ in our very being. The Love in us must be a part of our being before it will be authentic and permanent.
The more we focus on the abuse the more likely we are to lose that joyful loving Spiritual connection to Christ in us and the more we will respond in ways that displease God and please the abuser.
Satan loves to see us act in ungodly ways to ruin our witness to the world of the glory of God. Let us not allow the devil and those he uses to turn us into them.
Luke 6:27-28 "27But to those of you who will listen, I say: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, 28bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. "
However, we are also commanded to remove ourselves from those who practice rudeness and dishonesty through a false persona.
2 Timothy 3:1-5 "Avoid people such as these." And, especially if these people claim to be Christian. They can keep us stuck in frustration with the temptation ever present to be ill-mannered to defend ourselves.
When we are confronted with rudeness we can ignore it, or call it out, but should never respond in kind. When the response to our challenge that they must stop their rudeness is met with further rudeness then we know it is time to exit.
There are some people we should completely ignore because we know any response or attempt to teach them something will only be met with an escalation of their anger. We know that those who are rude on a regular basis have a weak and angry spirit that will not hear a correction.
Proverbs 9:7-9 "…7He who corrects a mocker brings shame on himself; he who rebukes a wicked man taints himself. 8 Do not rebuke a mocker, or he will hate you; rebuke a wise man, and he will love you. 9Instruct a wise man, and he will be wiser still; teach a righteous man, and he will increase his learning.…"
Bottom line: seek the Holy Spirit and when the time arises to have to deal with rude people, the Holy Spirit will give you what to say or compel you to remain silent and walk away.
Matthew 10:18-20 "…18 On My account, you will be brought before governors and kings as witnesses to them and to the Gentiles. 19 But when they hand you over, do not worry about how to respond or what to say. In that hour you will be given what to say. 20 For it will not be you speaking, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.…"
It is a blessing and peace that we don't heave to depend on making someone else understand, we can be what we should be and leave others to the Lord.
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