Unbelievers who are jealous of our freedom in Christ will work to disconnect us from other believers so they can more fully influence us, or at least in their own minds.
The fear of God's truth is so enormous in the minds of those who love themselves more than God that they labor to isolate us from others who love God and punish us while in their mob so that we fear rejection by the ungodly.
Mocking is a favored tactic of the unbeliever who is jealous of our joy and peace because of Christ. Galatians 4:16-17 "…16 Have I now become your enemy by telling you the truth? 17 Those people are zealous for you, but not in a good way. Instead, they want to isolate you from us, so that you may be zealous for them."
This is why the Lord has led me to spend time with unbelievers rarely and never in groups of them. Groupthink is powerful when in the company of unbelievers. They feed off of one another unable to think separately from the others in the room.
I see the value of spending time with unbelievers only individually so that there is no support for them to argue and fight against the truth.
Most people do not have the courage to fight and argue unless they know they have support from others.
It is impossible to have a rational, reasonable, and enjoyable conversation about the things of God while in a crowd of people who do not love God.
1 Corinthians 2:13-15 "…13 And this is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom, but in words taught by the Spirit, expressing spiritual truths in spiritual words. 14 The natural man does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God. For they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned. 15 The spiritual man judges all things, but he himself is not subject to anyone’s judgment.…"
1 John 4:7-9 "7 Beloved, let us love one another, because love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. 8 Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. 9 This is how God’s love was revealed among us: God sent His one and only Son into the world so that we might live through Him.…"
Our goal is never to be accepted by unbelievers, it is to bring them the truth about Christ and move on when they make the choice to reject our message.
Remaining with those who have "a form of religion" but deny Christ in their lifestyle is to count them as more important than Christ. We cannot love people more than we love Christ, to do so is to show that we have not desired a relationship with our Savior yet, we are still hanging onto this world.
Psalm 1:3-5 "…3 He is like a tree planted by streams of water, yielding its fruit in season, whose leaf does not wither, and who prospers in all he does. 4 Not so the wicked! For they are like chaff driven off by the wind. 5 Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous."
John 3:30-35
30 He must increase, but I must [b]decrease.
31 “He who comes from above is above all; the one who is only from the earth is of the earth and speaks of the earth. He who comes from heaven is above all.
32 What He has seen and heard, of this He testifies; and no one accepts His testimony.
33 The one who has accepted His testimony has certified that God is true.
34 For He whom God sent speaks the words of God; for He does not give the Spirit sparingly.
35 The Father loves the Son and has entrusted all things to His hand."
Because we love Christ we love those who love Him. Those who do not love us do not love Christ.
1 John 2:10
"Whoever loves his brother remains in the light, and there is no cause of stumbling in him."
1 John 5:2
"By this we know that we love the children of God: when we love God and keep His commandments."
Romans 12:9-11 "9 Love must be sincere. Detest what is evil; cling to what is good. 10 Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Outdo yourselves in honoring one another. 11 Do not let your zeal subside; keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord.…"
We know that there is no love in those who poke and prod at those who speak boldly for the truth of God's Word. Those who love God love to hear about Him and His principles.
1 Thessalonians 4:9
"Now about brotherly love, you do not need anyone to write to you, because you yourselves have been taught by God to love one another."
