Devotions 15-08-07

II Timothy 2:24-25

"And the Lord's bondservant must not be quarrelsome, but be kind to all, able to teach, patient when wronged, with gentleness correcting those who are in opposition, if perhaps God may grant them repentance leading to the knowledge of truth..."

This is describing what the servant of the Lord should look like and how he should respond to those who oppose him. I think there are two things that stand out to me. One is to be patient when wronged. It is so easy to react in the wrong way and show the person wronging you why they are wrong and get into a quarrel and both say things you may later regret. The second issue is I must be gentle to those who are opposing me and trust God to use my love and kindness to cause them to consider what I might say. I must allow the Lord do the convincing and not try to take this responsibility on myself.

Lord, I have not done this on many ocassions and I must consider what I should do to correct this. I want to go back and ask forgiveness for my lack of patience and gentleness. I was to harsh in my response and damaged my relationship to some very dear folks. I also want to learn from this because my brother Don has some of these issues and I do not want to respond to him incorrectly. Thank You Lord for showing me how I ought to respond to those who oppose me and see things differently than what I see. I need spiritual discernment to know how to correct and lead people to the truth. In the end it is You Lord that must do the convincing. I want to be a bondservant of Yours that honors You in my conduct and the way I minister Your Word.