Keeping a Christlike Character when verbally attacked

We all have been verbally attacked at some point in our life. Sometimes it is just a simple ill word from our spouse or a friend. Verbal attacks often tempt us to respond in the same manner that they spoke to us. Here is what the Bible says.

First remember that when a person verbally attacks you or you feel the need to verbally attack others it is a form of anger that is motivating this. There are two Greek words for anger
Raging anger is "Orge" This means a violent passion, anger which includes vengeance. Colossians 3:8 tells us to put this type of anger aside. Don't the word "Orge" pronounced "Orgay" remind you of another word we know? Ogre. Also in Galatians chapter 5 we see "outbursts of anger" addressed as one of the deeds of the Flesh. In Colossians 3:8 it is translated as wrath. I think that angry tempers, fierce, indignation, passion, rage or wrath applies.

Irritation is another form of anger translated from the word "parorgismos". Ephesians 4:26 tells us to "not let the sun go down on your anger" but the word used in the original scriptures is "parorgismos" so this means that we shouldn't let the sun go down even when we are just irritated led alone when we have full blown raging anger. We should pray and solve those feelings.

What does the bible say...
James 1:20

"For the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God."
Titus 3:2

"To speak evil of no man, to be no brawlers, but gentle, shewing all
meekness unto all men".
James 4:11,12

"Speak not evil one of another brethren. He that speaketh evil of his brother, and judgeth his brothers, speaketh evil of the law and judgeth the law; but if they judge the law, thou art not a doer of the law, but a judge. There is one law giver, who is able to save and to destroy; who art thou that judgest another."
Proverbs 15:1

"A soft answer turneth away wrath: but grievous words stir up anger"
Matthew 5:9

"Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God"
Proverbs 14:29,30

"He that is slow to wrath is of great understanding: but he that is hasty of spirit exalteth folly. A sound heart is the life of the flesh: but envy the rottenness of the bones"
Sometimes our pride over what was said to us or about us may result in our feeling a form of anger but pride can be a dangerous emotion if we give into it.
Proverbs 13:10

"Only by pride cometh contention: but with the well advised wisdom."
The wisest thing to do is to submit to God the control over it.
See James 4:7

Pride can make us assume we know what the other person is thinking and before we know it we have added thoughts into their head without us knowing what they truly think. Often thoughts that are negative, critical, and judgmental are presumptuous.

I try to respond with love and a kind word or if it is a situation where I can remain silent, I do, so as not to become a "brawler". I have learned to then just leave the situation in God's hands through prayer.

Righteous Anger: Since I brought up anger I feel I should speak a little about what I view as righteous anger. We all have gotten angry at times over something that we felt justified the emotions we were experiencing. First I believe that righteous anger, true righteous anger is very very rare. Jesus portrayed it in John Chapter two when he visited the temple and got angry because they had began using it to sell merchandise and he turned over all of their tables.

Most of the time our anger isn't righteous. To test to see if our anger is righteous we should read Philippians 4:8 and even when we are under provocation we must continue to think "true thoughts" meaning, what we are upset over should be truth and we should not stretch the truth or exaggerate it or only be upset over only half of the truth. The thoughts behind our anger and the way we share it should be "honest, just, pure and good thoughts." Think about this last one. Often because of our human nature our anger makes us want to take that person down, get revenge or to ruin their name or we just want to make them pay for making us angry or doing what they did. We are not thinking pure, honest and good thoughts then are we? I am willing to say that our actions that would follow wouldn't be righteous either.
Deuteronomy 32:35 says that "vengeance belongs to God".

Sometimes we allow our anger to grow to a point when we are not expressing our anger for righteous purposes but for our own gain, unrighteous thoughts or for sinful pride and even out of fear of what was said against us or to us being believed by others. Read I Corinthians 13:5.
If our anger doesn't fit into the list at Philippians 4:8 then our anger is not honoring God and it is sinful not righteous.

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People we associate with

We should always remember this


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Impatience, Doubt and Mistrust

Psalms 106:7-23 makes us give thought to what those people had witnessed God do for them. He supplied the deliverer 'Moses' as the prophets had written, he delivered them from great bondage, he parted the waters of the Red Sea so that they could cross and escape from the hands of those following to kill them, he fed them with manna falling from the sky and he supplied water from dry rocks along their route. 

We in today's time may think how could they after seeing all of that ever deny the power of God. How could they doubt that he would supply their needs for the rest of their trip, how could they doubt that he'd deliver them to where he had promised? How after seeing such wondrous signs could they ever doubt?

They did doubt! 

They got inpatient and took matters in their own hands and created a golden calf as an idol to worship. They turned their back on God because they didn't think he was giving them what they wanted quick enough. They didn't want to wait, they wanted it all now. They became afraid that what they had been promised may never come to pass. 

Without patience our desires tend to run wild and we probably end up trying God's patience with us. It is easy for us to think about how blind they must have been in Psalm 106 to have seen all of that and still not trust God to deliver them as promised. 

Well don't we do the same thing all the time? We may not have seen seas parted but we have seen the wondrous works of God in our lives, in the lives of others and in the world today. Yet, people every day turn their backs to God and doubt him, take matters into their own control, and deny God has the power to deliver them.

We have been promised many things in God's word. 

God has given many promises if we rely on him, trust him and come to him. But, when we believe we have trusted him and have given things to him but we don't feel the answer came quick enough or perhaps it wasn't the answer we sought, don't we just like the people in Psalm 106 become inpatient? Sure we do. 

We forget to trust that we will receive eternal life with God, we forget that this life is just our passage to be with him, we forget that God's way is the only way, our way if we pursue it without God's guidance will in all likelihood be the wrong path. 
We are no better then those people in Psalm 106. 

We also tend to not rely on God to answer our desires, supply our needs, give us the strength to get through a trying time, to heal us, to give us wisdom. How many times have you turned to prayer to get God's guidance when you have had a crisis? We have seen the wonders of God but we to deny him and don't seek him at all times when we are in need. 

God has sent us our own deliverer, Jesus Christ. Yet, after God sending his son to exist on earth and to be crucified for our sins, we still sometimes doubt when our needs are great. 

How can we after seeing God work in our lives ever doubt his love for us, ever doubt his desire to help us, ever doubt his ability to solve all of our problems, ever doubt his willingness to give us comfort during hard times, ever doubt his wish to guide us toward a path of righteousness? 

Most of all how could we ever doubt the promises that has been granted to us if we Just believe? Every word of the bible gives us peace, comfort, guidance, words to live by. If we follow them and rely on God for his comfort, his guidance, his wisdom and his insight, our life will be so much better. 

It is when we don't rely on God and we take our lives into our own hands that we get ourselves into situations we shouldn't have, into friendships we may suffer from, into relationships we shouldn't be in, into financial situations we can't handle, into dire emotional straits we can't cope with, into such turmoil that our life may seem endless and unbearable. 

Turn it all to God, give it to him, seek his word, seek his love, seek his comfort, seek his guidance, wisdom and insight. Seek God in your lives at every turn. We have seen his power, we have seen his miracles, we have seen his wonder, now we must have patience and let God work in our lives.

This weeks edition of Porch Philosophy News

Mar 27, 2013 weekly edition of Porch Philosophy News. Southern style, Pull up a rocker, pour some sweet tea. Enjoy! http://t.co/3j7EmhRuwQ

Homemade Fabric Softener

I found the following on pinterest and gave it a try and love it. it has a light fresh scent and works great to make your laundry static free.

Homemade Fabric Softener
(makes about 3 qts for 75 cents!)

6 C warm water
3 C white vinegar
2 C hair conditioner - pick a scent you like but use something cheap!
essential oil, optional

1.  In a large bowl, combine all three ingredients together and mix.  Whisk gently or you will get bubbles.
2.  Pour into your container and measure out as you would with store bought fabric softener.

I just keep it in an old store bought fabric softener jug.

Change......

"GOD, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, The courage to change the things I can, And the wisdom to know the difference." -- Author Unknown
 
This saying is so true. We do need to accept the things we cannot change. So often we want to fix things that are just not able to be fixed. Perhaps it is not our place to fix them. A good example is with our children. When they are going down a path we feel is the wrong one for them to travel we instantly want to rush in and put them on the right course. But if that child doesn't want to go down the path we've chosen for them there is nothing we can do to alter that. We can try to persuade them but in the end it is their choice to make once they are grown.

I also find that I must accept the things I cannot change regarding my illness. That is not easy because I want to somehow find a way to just make it all go away. Trying to change something that cannot be changed is very frustrating and stressful. By the same token we should hope for the strength and courage to take action and change the areas of our lives that we can make better. We can learn to take charge of things in our lives that we can use to become a better person. This also is not always easy because sometimes doing nothing in a tough situation seems like the safest road to go but it isn't always the wisest. Standing up and taking action takes courage and guts. It isn't always easy to face up to things in our life which we'd prefer to ignore.

Knowing the difference between those things we can change and those we cannot is not an easy task. I know that I get them confused constantly. Often times I don't know it is something I cannot change until I've tried over and over to change it. I guess it ends up being an admission to defeat and then I realize that it wasn't my situation to alter. I have to leave it to work out on its own. I have no idea how to explain a way to know the difference. I guess over the years through much trial and error we begin to sort situations out and recognize those things we just have to accept as is...

My prayer to cope with illness

Read John 11:4
"When Jesus heard that. he said, This sickness is not unto death but for the glory of God, that the Son of God might be glorified thereby."

Dear our Father in heaven, please use my illness as a tool to glorify your heavenly name, to spread the gospel of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Please allow the illness to humble my heart and make me more conscious of the type of love you behold for me. Lord please allow this illness to draw me closer to you, to make me more aware of how much I must depend on you for strength, courage and ability to get through difficult periods in my life. Lord I hope that my trials will bring great praise to your name and my difficulties in life will lead me to bring glory to you. I hope that the way I respond to my situation will show others that my strength to endure comes from the most high, our wonderful God in heaven. I pray that my actions show that I am walking the path through this life along side my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and it is he who carries me when I am weary. Lord, I thank you for the medical doctors that have been given the ability to research this disease and ask that you be with them to open their eyes even more. Lord I thank you for the answered prayers I have seen time and time again. I thank you for all of the prayer warriors that day after day continue to pray for me. I give you all the honor and the glory for the wonderful results of those prayers. Lord, I ask you to be with those that are going through sad and difficult times. Lay your hand on them and give them the peace they need. Lord just wrap them in your arms and hold them close so they can feel your presence and glorify you by giving their situation over to you and relying on you to give them the strength they need to get through it. Please continue to use my situation to draw others closer to you Lord and to draw myself closer to you. Without you in my heart, without you in my life I wouldn't get through any of this. So thank you Lord for never forsaking me and always being along side me. I turn my life over to you Lord, you know the reasons behind what I am experiencing, you know the greater scheme and meaning of my life. Give me the patience to endure whatever I must, the courage to face whatever life gives me, the strength to hope for a brighter tomorrow and the love to share with others the blessings you have given to me. I ask all of this in the precious name of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior. -amen