Hello Friends,

The Bible says in Ephesians 4:15 "but speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, that is, Christ."  This is harder than it sounds.  Many people have their own opinions about many things.  They decide they are right, and that's that.  Some may be Christian, some may not.  How do we tell people that the Bible disagrees with what they believe to be true?  First of all, we must show love.  Yelling or sounding angry, does not make someone want to say "that's interesting, tell me more."  We also need to study scripture, so we can use the Word of God to support the Truth.  When a fellow Christian disagrees with us on an issue, we can ask "what Bible verses do you get that from?  Let me show you what verses I have that say differently."

We need to show people we genuinely care about them.  What good does it do to tell someone "you're wrong, the Bible says..." if we then turn and walk away?   To me, the better option is to say, "l would like to talk to you about what the Bible says, have a seat and lets talk."  Follow up with them, and show you care.  Life is hard enough without all the arguing we see on TV and sometimes, in churches.  People need to know they are loved.  Sometimes with words, and sometimes with actions.

When it comes to actions, we may need to take the "A Picture Is Worth A Thousand Words" approach.  This also goes along with the saying "You may be the only Bible people read."  We are living Witnesses for God.  Our every action can be observed by others so that they will know where we stand.  If we treat all people with kindness (even if they don't believe what the Bible says to be Truth), then we can pray they will know we are set apart (2 Timothy 2:21), we are different.   As Christians, we want to stand out, not fit in, we want people to look at us and say "There's something different about you, what is it?" To which we say "I'm so glad you asked, let me tell you about a man named Jesus."  We can share the Gospel, we can share God's Love, and we can share the Truth.

Psalm 119:11 says "I have treasured Your word in my heart, So that I may not sin against You."  This demonstrates the importance of studying God's Word.  When you treasure something, you give it value, what is more valuable than God's Word?  To give a comparison, I value my cats.  If my cat managed to get out of my house, I'd want her back.  Say someone brings me a cat and says "is this yours?"  I know my cat well, I am very familiar with her markings, her face, her paws, I know these things because I value her, I would know if it is my cat.  This is how we should be with God's Word.  We should be eager to read, to study, to know.  So if someone says something to us, we can hold it up to God's Truth and know if it is Biblical. The only way to do so, is to read and study the Bible.  Then we will be prepared to lovingly discuss the God's Word when the opportunity arises.

I am a follower of Christ, I am not perfect, but I love Jesus.

Until Next Time,

Liz Allen