rumitoid

Ah, polite; sorry I overlooked that in my honest assessment of you. Let me correct that error: "'Number Six: my biggest antagonist appears to be intelligent, witty, generous, loving, accomplished, patriotic, loyal, well-liked, respected, decent, caring, kind, insightful, devout, productive, responsible, POLITE, and seems to h**e my guts. This has made me stop and re-think, not for the first time but more earnestly, how I have been behaving.'

Another item. Going along with the sagacious Pogo, "We have met the enemy...and it is us," I suppose my actual greatest antagonist is myself.

Armageddun Loc: The show me state

Some where I heard it said, "Confession is good for the Soul."
We all sin daily in thought word or deed. All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.

I try not to throw rocks at other Christian's; I am trying to remember that Atheist and non-believers are not necessarily demons but lost sheep. God h**es p***e and arrogance, therefore he blesses the humble. That should be sufficient to obey the two greatest Commandments. Jesus said, "If you love me keep my commandments." Faith is the mainspring of the universe and we who know and love God know what we are free to do but also the things that grieve the Spirit. Gal. 5:22-23 tells us we have all the things we need to be happy as well as offer that same joy and happiness to others. Sadly I think we all fail from time to time.

Boo_Boo Loc: Jellystone

I am taking this off of my watch list, do excuse me. I saw a post that I will engage with meaningful exchange. Thank you for all of your insight and comments. Be well, perhaps we will find ourselves on another thread.

Boo_Boo Loc: Jellystone

Sir, I am not a Christian, but I am not a nonbeliever in God and quite far from being an atheist. I am Jewish and I very much believe in God, in the power, the love, the gentleness of the one and only God. I am supportive of Christians and have no intent now or ever of maligning the faith in Jesus. I firmly believe in God making us with the freedom of choice. In Genesis 2:7, the Bible states that God formed (vayyitzer) man. The spelling of this word is unusual: it uses two consecutive Yods instead of the one you would expect. The rabbis inferred that these Yods stand for the word "yetzer," which means impulse, and the existence of two Yods here indicates that humanity was formed with two impulses: a good impulse (the yetzer tov) and an evil impulse (the yetzer ra).

The yetzer tov is the moral conscience, the inner voice that reminds you of God's law when you consider doing something that is forbidden. According to some views, it does not enter a person until his 13th birthday, when he becomes responsible for following the commandments.

I could go further into this, but I do not think that it is important to your comment. Back to your comment. To us, it is proper and right to correct another. My Papa, may he be at peace, taught me that there is a God-given commandment, “You shall surely rebuke your fellow. However, whenever we want to rebuke someone else, we must always first ask ourselves the following questions:
1.Have I already tried to judge the person favorably? Could there perhaps be some circumstance I am unaware of?
2.Is the desire to rebuke coming from the right place? Is it only about fixing a problem, or is there a personal agenda here?
3.Am I saying these words simply to “to get my point across” and fill my need to protest, or might my words actually be effective?
4.Are the words being said out of love? Out of true concern? Will the other person look at it this way?
5.What words will have the greatest chance of achieving that aim? Imagine yourself in the other person’s situation. What words would speak to you? Often it isn’t sources or preaching that speak to a person, but rather the respectful manner in which the concern is explained.
6.Am I the best person to bring up the issue, or is there someone else who could say the same thing and likely accomplish more?
7.Is now the time to rebuke, or is there another time and place where this has a better chance of working?

I hope that this has not muddied the waters, but more clearly explain my point of view.

Boo_Boo Loc: Jellystone

I do need to clear this up. I agree with the Armageddun! My comments were to congratulate him on his ability to understand the right time, reason, and place to chide another for their actions or responses. I needed to make it clear that I am not a Christian and explain the good and bad that lives in each of us. Then the meat was agreeing that he, like my Papa (may God give him rest) teach the same principals about the appropriateness of admonishing another for their deeds or words.

Armageddun Loc: The show me state

Isa. 43:1-7