There are those who come to our facebooks, not to learn, but to use terms accusing us of being "judgmental", "ignorant", "uninformemed", "mean spirited" and other manipulative terms to intimidate us into silence, hoping that those looking on will doubt what we say and that we will begin to doubt ourselves.
It is one thing to disagree and place the scripture that supports the disagreement, and quite another to use manipulative words to embarrass and malign a believer.
When I encounter those who call into question our character, I can easily discern that they do not know the Bible. Intimidation is a tactic of the devil to foster a sense of shame in us, for the purpose of making us unsure whether or not we did the right thing.
We can ignore these attacks, answering with the Word, or we have the option of deleting comments and even blocking if someone is belligerent. It is best not to answer the insults, but to keep our writing to the Scriptures.
Proverbs 26;4
"Do not answer a fool according to his folly, Or you will also be like him."
We don't have to address the foolishness that come from the mouths of manipulators, simply address the original subject with more Scripture. They will eventually give up and go away or they will see their own foolishness.
Proverbs 23:9
"Do not speak in the hearing of a fool, For he will despise the wisdom of your words."
I have had several people give up and run away because all I wrote was scripture, they wanted me to enter into an argument leading to silliness, making me look as absurd and unreasonable as they sound. Do not let them draw you into their childish banterings.
Sometimes God will tell us to hang in there with someone, but many times He says to get away, they will only attempt to make us look silly, and for many weak minded people their tactics work.
Matthew 10:14
""Whoever does not receive you, nor heed your words, as you go out of that house or that city, shake the dust off your feet."
The Lord will tell us when it is time to withdraw from a foolish person who will not listen.
Matthew 7:6
""Do not give what is holy to dogs, and do not throw your pearls before swine, or they will trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you to pieces."
We are to be more concerned about those who will listen, those who will not, waste our time fighting over foolishness, bringing no value to the discussion while there are others who are eager to learn but frustrated by the silly bantering that stubborn people bring.
Keep in mind that God does not need us, if someone will not listen and we have to remove ourselves, God can send someone else to bring one more chance for them to listen. We live in a culture that says we are never to reject anyone, but that is not what the Bible says.
Titus 3:10
"As for a person who stirs up division, after warning him once and then twice, have nothing more to do with him,"
Our witness is greater when we obey God no matter how it looks to the world. God will be the judge of the results. Too often we try to figure out what the culture will accept or like, when God told us just to obey Him, He will take care of the effects.
Let God be your Guide, not the culture!
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