Fair vs Right

[Goodboy]

Fair vs Right

Most of my life I have been trying to do what is fair. I even thought that being mean at times was fair when responding as a defense to how I was treated. But a thought recently came to me as a Christian. What about what is right in God's eyes?

Who decides what is fair? I would say I do based on society combined with my thoughts of what is kind of equal. You buy me a lunch, then I buy you a lunch.

Who decides what is right? As a Christian I would say God through the Bible.

So the Bible does not ask us to be fair, meaning giving what it is we get. We as Christians should be much more tolerant of and much more giving to others.

Matthew 5:43 Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy.
Matthew 5:44 But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;
Matthew 5:45 That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.
Matthew 5:46 For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same?
Matthew 5:47 And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? do not even the publicans so?
Matthew 5:48 Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.

So my focus now is to do what is right in God's eyes, not just what is fair.

Goodboy

 

[Andy C]

So my focus now is to do what is right in God's eyes, not just what is fair.

Yes, always do what is right in His eyes, not our own. His will, not mine.

 

[mattfivefour]

Excellent thread!

 

[Goodboy]

Fair vs Right

Most of my life I have been trying to do what is fair. I even thought that being mean at times was fair when responding as a defense to how I was treated. But a thought recently came to me as a Christian. What about what is right in God's eyes?

Who decides what is fair? I would say I do based on society combined with my thoughts of what is kind of equal. You buy me a lunch, then I buy you a lunch.

Who decides what is right? As a Christian I would say God through the Bible.

So the Bible does not ask us to be fair, meaning giving what it is we get. We as Christians should be much more tolerant of and much more giving to others.

Matthew 5:43 Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy.
Matthew 5:44 But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;
Matthew 5:45 That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.
Matthew 5:46 For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same?
Matthew 5:47 And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? do not even the publicans so?
Matthew 5:48 Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.

So my focus now is to do what is right in God's eyes, not just what is fair.

Goodboy

Most Christians understand that we should be understanding, tolerant and loving when we are witnessing or ministering to unbelievers, but what about how we act toward each other? Sometimes we forget that we should be loving to everyone including those we fellowship with. This is very contrary to what the world teaches and many times we Christians tend to act like unbelievers.

For example...
We may hurt someone's feelings and we think they should not have been hurt by what we said or did so what do we do? If we are acting like what the world teaches, we give an excuse for what we said or did and tell the person they should not be so sensitive. What should we do as a Christian? We should apologize for our words or actions and ask them what we could have done or said where they would not be hurt or offended. But what if we feel they are in the wrong? Doesn't matter, if the person feels hurt, disrespected or whatever as a Christian we should as Jesus asks us to do show love. Not accuse the person of being too sensitive. This applies to our Christian brothers and Sisters. We should not get so familiar with them that we feel we can treat them however we like.

Am I speaking to those who are reading this? Yes, but I am also speaking as a reminder to myself. Our old sin nature many times makes us want to be right rather than loving. So I guess I could sum it up by saying just be loving to everyone including other Christians.

Goodboy

 

[Andy C]

Fair vs Right


Most Christians understand that we should be understanding, tolerant and loving when we are witnessing or ministering to unbelievers, but what about how we act toward each other? Sometimes we forget that we should be loving to everyone including those we fellowship with. This is very contrary to what the world teaches and many times we Christians tend to act like unbelievers.

For example...
We may hurt someone's feelings and we think they should not have been hurt by what we said or did so what do we do? If we are acting like what the world teaches, we give an excuse for what we said or did and tell the person they should not be so sensitive. What should we do as a Christian? We should apologize for our words or actions and ask them what we could have done or said where they would not be hurt or offended. But what if we feel they are in the wrong? Doesn't matter, if the person feels hurt, disrespected or whatever as a Christian we should as Jesus asks us to do show love. Not accuse the person of being too sensitive. This applies to our Christian brothers and Sisters. We should not get so failure with them that we feel we can treat them however we like.

Am I speaking to those who are reading this? Yes, but I am also speaking as a reminder to myself. Our old sin nature many times makes us want to be right rather than loving. So I guess I could sum it up by saying just be loving to everyone including other Christians.

Goodboy

If my questioning you on a few points seemed mean or unloving, I do apologize, as that was certainly not my attention. This is an open forum where many may lurk without commenting. If I question another member, my thoughts are on that lurker, making sure they fully understand what was posted. I also am looking for clarification for myself as I often dont understand what the posters intentions or thoughts were.

Disagreement, or questioning another member should not be considered harsh, or mean, unless it was done with obvious intent of doing so.

 

[Goodboy]

If my questioning you on a few points seemed mean or unloving, I do apologize, as that was certainly not my attention. This is an open forum where many may lurk without commenting. If I question another member, my thoughts are on that lurker, making sure they fully understand what was posted.

If you are sincere with your apology, then I accept it. Not to bring up old wounds, but on the Rapture Forum you once told me I was too sensitive, meaning you understood that I was hurt by your comments, but suggested I should change not you. Hurt is in our emotions and is very hard to change. It would be much easier for the offender to change unless he is too prideful. I say this not to accuse you of being prideful, just so you understand it is very hard to change ones emotions.

If you are interested in how you can better communicate with me without hurting my feelings, here are some suggestions.

1) Don't start your response with a negative like "I disagree!". That right away puts me on the defensive. If you agree with some part of what I wrote, you could start with that. If you disagree with all that I wrote, you could say something like "Not sure I understand where you are coming from, could you explain from the Bible where you get that understanding?"
2) Use words like "In my opinion" or "I think" rather than "You are wrong" or things like that.
3) Be very clear about what you disagree with, so I do not miss it and think you have a problem with my main point. LOL!

So yes I will admit I am sensitive with how someone responds to me and always have been. I could give you my thoughts on why that is, but that's not the point. The point is that is how I am. If you are unable to respond more gently to me that's fine, but I will then stop posting. At 70 years old with a weak heart I don't need any more stress than I already have.

God Bless!

 

[Andy C]

If you are sincere with your apology, then I accept it. Not to bring up old wounds, but on the Rapture Forum you once told me I was too sensitive, meaning you understood that I was hurt by your comments, but suggested I should change not you. Hurt is in our emotions and is very hard to change. It would be much easier for the offender to change unless he is too prideful. I say this not to accuse you of being prideful, just so you understand it is very hard to change ones emotions.

If you are interested in how you can better communicate with me without hurting my feelings, here are some suggestions.

1) Don't start your response with a negative like "I disagree!". That right away puts me on the defensive. If you agree with some part of what I wrote, you could start with that. If you disagree with all that I wrote, you could say something like "Not sure I understand where you are coming from, could you explain from the Bible where you get that understanding?"
2) Use words like "In my opinion" or "I think" rather than "You are wrong" or things like that.
3) Be very clear about what you disagree with, so I do not miss it and think you have a problem with my main point. LOL!

I could be wrong, but it would not surprise me if your military training causes you to just respond quickly not considering so much how the other person will take it. In the military where one is faced with life or death situations there is no time to worry about how someone will feel by what is said. So my point of being loving and taking time to think about how the other person will take something is not relevant and could cause someone to die.

So yes I will admit I am sensitive with how someone responds to me and always have been. I could give you my thoughts on why that is, but that's not the point. The point is that is how I am. If you are unable to respond more gently to me that's fine, but I will then stop posting. At 70 years old with a weak heart I don't need any more stress than I already have.

God Bless!

Maybe this is better suited for a private message?

 

[Goodboy]

Maybe this is better suited for a private message?

No, I think everyone could use this advice, even me!

 

[Andy C]

All I can respond with is “God bless you brother”.

 

[Andy C]

So yes I will admit I am sensitive with how someone responds to me and always have been. I could give you my thoughts on why that is, but that's not the point. The point is that is how I am. If you are unable to respond more gently to me that's fine, but I will then stop posting. At 70 years old with a weak heart I don't need any more stress than I already have

Noted!

Keep posting brother.