Why Not To Get Into Arguments

Okay, I wasn't planning on writing on this first, but because of what I talked about at the end of the last blog entry I feel like I should.

One of the things I've been learning is the significance of being right.  And the effects that it has.  Because being right always comes at a price.

When you are right, it means that someone is wrong.  It means that you have come against them. That you have accused them.  Maybe this doesn't apply to all things, but I think in our Christian lives this has the potential to happen a lot.  I am right, and you are wrong.  I have the right view of God and you have the wrong one.  I have the right interpretation of that scripture and you have the wrong one. I do the right things, and you don't do them...  You get the idea.  And up till now I think that every time I told someone they were wrong, I thought it was in their best interest. But I recently had another way of looking at it explained to me. And it makes WAY more sense.

When we are being argumentative, we are accusing each other. We are tearing each other down. We are attacking each other.  And those are all things satan does.  He is the accuser. He attacks us.  So why would I do that?  Why would I act in a way that leads to satan's end?  I'd much rather act in a way that is consistent with the nature of God.  To act in love is to act like God.  Holy spirit is our comforter.  He comes along side of us.  So rather than going against someone, I want to come along side them.  I want to not be adversarial in my disagreements.   And I will still have disagreements.  But I want to act in a different way towards them.

And the more I think about this, the more it makes sense.  If I say "no, you are wrong" to someone, what is their first response? To dig in their heels. To get defensive.  They might not even really believe what they just said, but your adversarial stance made them believe it a lot more!  So even my amateur psych mind agrees with this.  God obviously knows what he is talking about (doesn't he always?)

So this is why I don't want to argue about all the things I'm learning and will be posting on my blog.  I would much rather simply explain myself and answer questions, as that leaves you to choose for yourself if you agree or not.  I think questions are great, because it forces me to think through these things that I'm learning, but I don't want to get into some huge debate about if the book "The Shack" is harmful to Christianity or not (it isn't, you are over reacting). Okay, that was just for fun.  I do hope that if you are reading my blog you will get something interesting from what I'm posting, and I am so thankful for your prayers.

Blessings.