Lesson 4 deals with how Jesus was truthful but tender with people when they did something or spoke something that was of man and not of God.This lesson explores the tension many of us feel between telling others what we really think and not wanting to hurt their feelings or make them angry.
Which of following best describes you?
If I see someone doing something wrong, it’s important to me to be truthful, even if it means not always being tactful.
If I see someone doing something wrong, it’s important to me to deal with the situation tactfully, even if I need to compromise the whole truth.
Jesus did not tell people what they wanted to hear. He told them what they needed to hear. Sometimes that made them mad. Depending on our temperaments, we have one of two tendencies when it comes to telling the truth as we see it.
Some lean towards niceness.We want people to feel good and not hurt their feelings. We may be uncomfortable with conflict.
Others lean towards toughness. They are blunt to the point of being insensitive to people’s feelings or different point of view.
Living our lives where the norm is niceness is not safe. When we do live that way, we feel we have to hide our true thoughts and feelings. Before we know we going along to get along. And we are not truly happy and often avoid conflicts and those people who are "SO NICE." We view them to by hypocrites.
But living a live of unrestrained toughness isn't safe either. Gentler personalities withdraw to avoid being beaten down.
Jesus calls us to be honest but not mean, truthful but tender.
TRUTHFUL BUT TENDER
Matthew 16:13-28
Matthew 7:1-5
Luke 6:37-39
Matthew 5:21-22
In 7:1-5 we are told to judge with God’s values.
In 16:23 Jesus did judge by God’s values.
See you all at our house at 5pm 4/21/2007
5 comments:
Hey there Karen. Here's hoping ya'll had a great and Blessed Easter. Hey, I need a prayer request. I'm going in tomorrow to have my DVT (blood clot) dissolved (hopefully). Even though I know the Lord has put me on this earth for a reason (if not, he would've called me home three or four times in my lifetime) and I know he'll get me through this, I'm still scared out of my mind. I've heavily educated myself on the procedure through the internet, prayed endlessly...nothing has worked. Even though I said what I did above, I just have a sick feeling about it and I don't want to; cuz than you're getting into doubting the Lord's power. Anyway, I'll be in the hospital for a few days, in the ICU. So, pray for me and pray for the Kaiser (my health plan) doctors and technicians. Dr. McGinn is my vascular surgeon (not sure if he'll be in the room with me, but he said he'd be in the hospital). I will let you know how it went either through Crystal (might call her) or when I get out of the hospital.
Good news, Karen...it wasn't a blood clot. Think it was just a blocked or collapsed vein in my leg. I now have like a balloon inserted in my vein to keep it open (I had an angioplasty). I go back to the doctor on Tuesday. Thank you for praying for me.
Tag; you're it. Please read my blog.
Just want to say congratulations on your retirement. YAY!! No more getting up early. I hope you very much enjoy your retirement.
How long were u with Bellsouth (I think you said it was AT&T now)?
Also, I have huge news on my clot. It dissolved by itself (the body automatically does that for some reason). I do have a stent in the vein that had the clot to keep it open. I'm having some problems with it, but doing ok.
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