When Discretion is the Better Part of Valour

Romans 16:17 Brothers and sisters, I want you to be very careful of those who cause arguments and hurt people’s faith by teaching things that are against what you learned. Stay away from them.

Difficult people are everywhere. A day doesn’t seem to go by without rubbing up against a difficult person. Given the frequency with which that occurs, what you and I need is some wisdom to help handle those situations in a godly way.

Some people are just difficult. I’m sure you’ve noticed that. In fact, some people are very difficult. I’m sure you’ve noticed that too. And some people are just downright impossible. The question is, what do you do with them? Do you engage with them? Do you turn your back on them? What’s the right thing to do here? What does God want you to do?

Every now and then, I have someone write into me after one of my radio or television programs attacking me, accusing me of this and that and everything else.

Just the other morning, I had an email full of expletives. I used to try and engage with these people, but what I found was that they would just keep on hurling bigger and bigger grenades in my direction. A lot of it, might I say, based on a false understanding of the Scriptures, through bad teaching or the person’s own sin.

There are some people, no matter how well you treat them, or how lovingly you try to reason with them, who are just going to keep on behaving badly. It’s almost as though they’re pre-programmed to cause dissension and offence.

I had a wise Christian leader tell me this: just avoid them.

My immediate reaction was: That can’t be biblical. Well, actually … surprisingly, it is. God’s Word is nothing, if not practical.

That’s God’s Word. Fresh … for you … today.

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When Discretion is the Better Part of Valour

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