That’s a good perspective too. In fact, I think they often go together, even though they don’t seem like they could. We can help teach others how to be gentle by being gentle ourselves, and at the same time we can become more gentle by teaching others how to do it. We feed off each other and the way the Lord works through each of us.

-Marshall Jones Jr.

Love this post Marshall — very thoughtful.

And about that last part of the verse, yep, it’ll be tricky for sure. I love that about the Bible. It doesn’t try to gloss over the difficulty, but it does share our to persist through the difficulty.

Thank you for references that verse. I always love when I see comments with Scripture in them. It’s such a blessing.

-Marshall Jones Jr.

Thank you for reading as always.

-Marshall Jones Jr.

God blesses those who try… and I don’t mean that flippantly. I really believe that God focuses on our motivation, so absolutely… I think He wants to bless us for giving ourselves away.

-Marshall Jones Jr.

“Brothers, if a person is caught doing something wrong, those of you who are spiritual should restore that person in a spirit of gentleness. Watch out for yourself so that you are not tempted as well.” Galatians 6:1

Does this fit in with what you’re sharing?

Peace,
Jay

I read through your post, and then the convo between you and Jason… there is lots to take in here… thank you, Marshall.

The idea is that once you and I open up to others, they’ll begin to let their guard down. They’ll naturally start to mirror what we do… usually.

But as you said, if they really don’t know (and often I’m in that category… totally oblivious), then all the openness isn’t going to change their response.

In that case, it does take an extra part. You mentioned a precursor. I’m not really a fan of that idea because it tends to push people away. Even if it’s not meant this way, the person feels like they’re unaccepted, which is probably part of the reason they’re not sensitive in the first place.

I suggest more of a post-cursor. :>) I didn’t convey this well in the post at all, so I apologize for that. Thank you for pointing it out.

A post-cursor comes afterward. Once you’ve opened up, once the person sees that you’re willing to talk to him or her, you’ll start to build trust. With that trust, you’ll be able to start making gentle suggestions (if they don’t already start mirroring you).

I tend to approach evangelism the same way. You can make it known up front that you’re a Christian, but it’s not until you’ve built trust that anyone will pay attention.

It’s tricky, though, as you pointed out. Sometimes, no matter what we do, nothing seems to make any difference. At that point, I don’t know that opening up is still the answer. But then again, success for us isn’t measured in the results – it’s measured in our obedience to what God tells us to do.

Thank you again for calling me out here. I appreciate it, really. I’m more committed to helping out than being right (at least I try to be). So all the input is fantastic.

-Marshall Jones Jr.

-Marshall Jones Jr.