Respectfully Uncompromising

” For God did not give us a spirit of timidity but one of power, love, and self-discipline.” II Timothy 1:7, NIV

“It’s not fair,” she declared as she climbed into the warm car, beside me. She flicked her hair from her face with the back of her hand, the movement adding weight to her words and revealing a stormy expression set deep in her brown eyes.

She continued her tirade, explaining an assignment where all the students must judge who was responsible for WWII. They were given several categories ranging from politicians, country governments, and even God. Each one needed an assigned percentage of fault, and none could be zero.

“How do you want to handle this,” I asked after a moment of stone-cold silence.

II Timothy is clear.  God has not given us  a spirit of timidity. Even when someone in authority demands otherwise, be it a professor, a boss, or a friend.

Our first priority is obedience to God. How we handle those hair-raising situations declares how seriously we take our faith.

In this instance, there were several ways to practice obedience to God:

1) Be Respectful: We are called to love our neighbors in Mark 12:31 and Matthew 22:39. It is important to love and show respect to everyone, independent of beliefs, positions, education, or social status.

2) Be Truthful: As Christians, we are called to honesty, “You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.” Exodus 20:16  We are also called to speak the truth and not allow silence to garner assumptions. John 8:32

3) Be Prayerful: Living in this world but not of it can feel very complicated.  We can, we must, carry it all to Christ in prayer. “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.” Philippians 4:6 He promises to turn those twisty turns into straight paths. Proverbs 3:5-6

So, how did that assignment turn out?  She did plenty of research and assigned what she considered appropriate percentages of blame.  She gave God’s category a zero. She also included a detailed explanation of why she believed God’s grade to be correct. She knew the assignment instructions.  She knew if she did not follow them down to the final detail her grade was in jeopardy.  She also knew she would one day answer to her heavenly Father.

Her paper was graded and returned to her.

She received an “A.”

Reflections:

Monday:  How have you applied II Timothy 1:7? How could you apply it this week?

Tuesday: How can you show respect to others even when you do not necessarily agree with them?

Wednesday: Have you ever had an issue with the truth? What made you see it more clearly and become more comfortable with it? Read John 8:32. How has the truth set you free? If you missed it last week, please refer to the post from 5/26/2014, “The Truth.”

Thursday: Read Philippians 4:6 Do you regularly pray about the “little things” of life? Are you convinced God does indeed care about all things?

Friday: Prayer: Dear Heavenly Father, We come before You now, in a spirit of humility and one of thankfulness.  You care about each one of us and all the daily details we must decide.  You have already given us the spirit we need, even for those who are shy, to be obedient and stand up for Your truth.  Please show us how to do that while honoring Your request for us to love and respect our neighbors.  Thank You for Your great love, Amen.

Thank you for reading! Please return for the next post by Monday, June 9.