Needing to be seen as "nice" is more about appearances than authenticity. Kindness is associated with truth. Nice is superficial, and kindness is deeper with purpose.
Nice is associated with keeping the peace at the expense of truth. Kindness is driven by the truth that deepens character.
Ephesians 4:32 "32 And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you."
Niceness cannot sustain a relationship; without depth, the relationship cannot grow. Growth depends on two people being honest and authentic to resolve life issues with the well-being of others in mind.
"Nice" care only about getting along, even if it compromises truth to keep a sense of peace.
Nice very rarely helps fix relationship problems. Assertiveness with kindness grows individuals and makes the relationships deeper and more long-lasting.
Ephesians 4:15 "15 but speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, that is, Christ,"
Growth rarely comes without facing things we would rather not face. The things we avoid in our character are the things we must admit and confront. IF we love one another, we will seek to help one another grow.
Christ was hated for being openly truthful, and so will we be hated for speaking boldly. Yes, we share with others to help because we love them. If they do not receive the love and fight and argue to do whatever they want to do that may harm them, we are no longer responsible to continue the attempt to convince them.
Prayer is necessary so that we will be bathed in the Holy Spirit as He guides us.
Wednesday, January 21, 2026
Our Companions Reveal Us
If I am around people who think about small things, I will think about small things. If I am around those who love the depth of truth, I will think more deeply.
1 Corinthians 2:16 "For who has known the mind of the Lord, that he will instruct Him? But we have the mind of Christ."
Our culture enjoys superficiality and crassness that degrade our character when we hear them regularly. This is why God said, "Come out from among them and be separate."
As born-again believers, we ought to seek out those who speak God's truth and emulate the very love of Christ.
I confess that I do not know how to manipulate people to believe the truth. I am more open and honest, which this culture does not seem to be able to handle. They want calculated words of affirmation to create positive feelings.
When we dance all around the truth to create an environment that feels good, the truth gets lost, and only the feelings dominate. Considering how we come across can be good, but if we are focused on making someone like us, we will be useless to them and dishonest with ourselves.
Christ and the apostles didn't worry about causing people to like them; they never thought that, because of how friendly they were, those hearing will like the message. They spoke boldly, leaving the response up to the hearer.
Isaiah 52:11 "Depart, depart, go out from there! Touch no unclean thing; come out from it, purify yourselves, you who carry the vessels of the LORD."
Revelation 18:4 "Then I heard another voice from heaven say: 'Come out of her, My people, so that you will not share in her sins or contract any of her plagues."
1 Corinthians 2:16 "For who has known the mind of the Lord, that he will instruct Him? But we have the mind of Christ."
Our culture enjoys superficiality and crassness that degrade our character when we hear them regularly. This is why God said, "Come out from among them and be separate."
As born-again believers, we ought to seek out those who speak God's truth and emulate the very love of Christ.
I confess that I do not know how to manipulate people to believe the truth. I am more open and honest, which this culture does not seem to be able to handle. They want calculated words of affirmation to create positive feelings.
When we dance all around the truth to create an environment that feels good, the truth gets lost, and only the feelings dominate. Considering how we come across can be good, but if we are focused on making someone like us, we will be useless to them and dishonest with ourselves.
Christ and the apostles didn't worry about causing people to like them; they never thought that, because of how friendly they were, those hearing will like the message. They spoke boldly, leaving the response up to the hearer.
Isaiah 52:11 "Depart, depart, go out from there! Touch no unclean thing; come out from it, purify yourselves, you who carry the vessels of the LORD."
Revelation 18:4 "Then I heard another voice from heaven say: 'Come out of her, My people, so that you will not share in her sins or contract any of her plagues."
The Most Dangerous Business
The most dangerous business in recent times has been the media, including television and movies, which have twisted the minds of a generation that worships entertainment and elevates false information above truth.
Most "information" of today is tainted dramatically with spin and lies that dull the sense of right and wrong. It entices people to base their judgments on feelings rather than biblical truth.
Discernment has been lost, causing people to fight over the right to believe the lies. Unable to hear correction or the truth, they persecute those who love God's truth and His ways.
2 Timothy 4:3-4 "For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths."
2 Thessalonians 2:10-12 "And with all wicked deception for those who are perishing, because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. Therefore God sends them a strong delusion, so that they may believe what is false, in order that all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness."
1 Timothy 4:1 "Now the Spirit expressly says that in later times some will depart from the faith by devoting themselves to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons,"
1 John 4:1 "Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world."
Most "information" of today is tainted dramatically with spin and lies that dull the sense of right and wrong. It entices people to base their judgments on feelings rather than biblical truth.
Discernment has been lost, causing people to fight over the right to believe the lies. Unable to hear correction or the truth, they persecute those who love God's truth and His ways.
2 Timothy 4:3-4 "For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths."
2 Thessalonians 2:10-12 "And with all wicked deception for those who are perishing, because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. Therefore God sends them a strong delusion, so that they may believe what is false, in order that all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness."
1 Timothy 4:1 "Now the Spirit expressly says that in later times some will depart from the faith by devoting themselves to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons,"
1 John 4:1 "Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world."
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