All the problems of the world are created and stem from pride. The devil was thrown out of heaven because he pretended he was superior to his creator. He chose to believe something about himself and even about God that was not true. Then over time, he began to believe his own lies.
Often people who are friends and those who are family would rather believe the gossip they hear than go to the object of the gossip to find out the truth. Perhaps they fear finding out the truth that would convict them of their sin of judging that which they have not known. Loyalty to their lying friends means more to them than preserving the reputation of a righteous person.
Often people assume things about those they dislike in order to believe what they want to about that person.
I have seen often in my life fowl treatment of a person based on nothing more than something made up in someone's mind to justify their own hatred and jealousy toward that person.
I recall the account of a woman who experienced ill-treatment from relatives because of something a brother told them in gossip. The brother made an assumption that his sister treated her children a certain detrimental way and passed this desired assumption on to other family members.
The brother could not have known how the sister and her husband treated their children because he lived 1500 miles away. He was making judgments based on his prejudiced feelings alone, without any evidence at all.
Narcissists court their own ideas so long they begin to believe what they say to those who have no business judging, people who have not seen anything for themselves and could not know details except the lies the narcissist feeds them.
I also knew of a person who was called a "rebellious person" because they didn't like the personality of the one that would not bow to the narcissist's ways.
The devil did this with Eve in the garden. He told her that God was not to be trusted by questioning whether or not God actually said not to eat the fruit. When Eve explained to the devil that God did say not to eat the fruit the devil was able to make her believe that God meant her harm and wasn't being honest with her.
You see the devil has not changed his tactics one bit since the beginning of creation. He still accuses the good people of bad things while claiming the bad people have a good reason for their hatred.
We can expect to see more of this as we march toward the end times prophesy. 2 Timothy 3:1-5 clearly tells us the mind-set of the end times earthly population. This is not just a few people here and a few people there, it is the mindset of the entire world, everyone except the remnant Christians who are a small number compared to the population of the world.
2 Timothy 3:1-5
"1 But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come.
2 For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy,
3 unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good,
4 treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God,
5 holding to a form of [b]godliness, although they have denied its power; Avoid such men as these."
Remember the word "difficult" or "perilous" in the KJV means "ragingly insane." When we know this we do not have to take anything evil people do to us or say about us seriously. God will deal with them in due time, all we must do is focus on our walk, remaining faithful to Him, seeking Him in all we do and leave the rebellious ones to God to deal with.
Romans 12:18-19 "…18If it is possible on your part, live at peace with everyone. 19 Do not avenge yourselves, beloved, but leave room for God’s wrath. For it is written: “Vengeance is Mine; I will repay, says the Lord.” 20 On the contrary, “If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him a drink. For in so doing, you will heap burning coals on his head.”…"
This does not mean we seek out to do good to evil people so they will feel guilty, that is fleshly and a form of revenge. We are to remove ourselves and allow God to work in their lives as He sees fit.
The "holier than thou" mentality deliberately using good deeds to manipulate others to feel guilty is not only a form of revenge but also a snobbish superior attitude that is itself sinful, full of pride. The mentality is a sort of "I will be so good to you that you will see how superior I am to you", is the filthy disgusting pride that got the devil expelled from heaven.
When we have to be in the presence of a wicked person we treat everyone with respect knowing that we were once lost as they are. Our purpose in all that we do is to glorify God and let our light shine before men. Those who "heap hot coals of kindness" for the purpose of acting superior are not in obedience to God, they are not humble and they only glorify themselves.
Humility Definition: "unselfed", "absence of self-awareness", "knowing that no one is any better than someone else.
Ephesians 4:31-32" Get rid of all bitterness, rage, and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you. "
Those who will not confess their offenses against others will also be those who do not forgive others. They do not please the Lord in any case, they do not grow and they lack all the fruit of the Spirit.
Galatians 5:22-23 "22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law."
It is not necessary to have a law to be these things, those who have them have them by the power of the Holy Spirit. They do not have to try to be these things, they are a part of their character as much as breathing. There is no need to think about being kind, it naturally emerges without any thought to those who possess the qualities of the character of Christ.
So I guess the lesson here is not to go forth and try to do better, the lesson is to ask God to change us into these qualities that are His very nature.
The world we live in every day does not understand this fruit, they do not know how to be what is not a part of their being. Their being is that of a fallen person who cannot understand what these qualities look like unless they have been changed by Christ or have seen the life of a born again believer.
The problem is that we have so few born again believers in the world today, many who claim they are Christian do not know what love looks like. They think it is permissiveness for momentary happiness.
The world defines love very differently from how God's Word the Bible, explains that it is and they do not understand the nature of Christ.
May this comfort and encourage the believers as they seek to be more like Christ while walking in a world that hates Him and them.
