Those who are rude and demeaning to devalue others want to believe it's just clean fun, always justifying themselves by making it seem as though something is wrong with us for not liking their rudeness. Another thing to say might be, "If it is only fun for you, then it is disrespectful."
We know when something is playful and fun, and when something is rude and hurtful; we can tell the difference.
Notice something interesting, those who demean others never seem to play their joke on themselves! Why does the mocker never mock himself if it is all just clean fun?
The purpose of the mocking and demeaning is to elevate themselves. If they can make others feel bad or stupid, it makes them feel superior.
Proverbs 29:8-10 "…8 Mockers inflame a city, but the wise turn away anger. 9 If a wise man goes to court with a fool, there will be raving and laughing with no resolution. 10 Men of bloodshed hate a blameless man, but the upright care for his life."
Sadly, those who use mocking, demeaning, and dismissiveness to weaken others don't realize they are the ones who lack maturity and kindness.
Diminishing others to elevate oneself is exactly the tactic of the devil. He will entice someone to do something he knows will ruin them and then point the finger at them for doing it.
Revelation 12:10-11 "10 And I heard a loud voice in heaven saying: “Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of His Christ. For the accuser of our brothers has been thrown down— he who accuses them day and night before our God. 11 They have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony. And they did not love their lives so as to shy away from death."
Notice this, "they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the Word of their testimony." It doesn't matter what others try to do to us; they cannot defeat us because of Christ Who lives in us.
We have seen an increase in rudeness in American culture because of the influence of the media and the lack of discernment in those who do not have Christ. They are easily manipulated into acting out what they see every day because they have no godly wisdom and discernment. What they see is right in line with their fallen and debased nature, so it comes easily to them.
1 Corinthians 2:13-14 "…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."
When rudeness becomes justified and popular in a culture, there is no cure for it except Christ. He is the only One Who can place love and kindness in the heart of those who have been changed into a new creation by Him.
2 Corinthians 3:17-18 "…17 Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. 18 And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into His image with intensifying glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit."
What Christ does in a transformed heart is a miracle and beautiful.
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."
Love is the opposite of the tactics of the devil! It is the opposite of the ways of the world. The world does good things but for selfish motives, but those who are born again do their good deeds to glorify God; this is why they need no praise for performance.
It is a blessing when God changes us and when we begin to understand His ways, even if no one else around us is obeying God, we can be blessed that He is working in us.
Let us not shrink back from admitting our failures so that God will cleanse us and keep us moving forward in holiness.
1 Peter 1:15-16 "But as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, because it is written, 'Be holy, for I am holy.'"
No comments:
Post a Comment