Wretched Radio | Air Date: September 23, 2021
Tired of Fighting
In this episode, we look at how it feels and what you can do when you are tired of fighting. Are you in the fight? No, we’re not referring to all the the skirmishes we seem to get into courtesy of….satan. All issues we should be able to have loving conversations over. What fight should we be in? Here to clarify, Galatians 5 lays out the battle that should be raging inside each of us. If we fought the Galatians battle more, we would have few battles inside our local church and on the internet.
But instead, we tend to do a fair amount of fighting these days. Galatians 5:16, specifically, teaches us “Walk in the spirit and you should not fulfill the lust of the flesh.” You are a dualistic being. You have one new nature – to be a spirit-filled believer. What’s the battle inside of you? Your flesh.
For perspective, we used to feed the flesh all the time. Now however, we need to be increasingly starving it. In this same vein,Paul is asking the Galatians ‘Whaddya doin?” Paul has been focused on the Gospel and we’re seeing an outpouring of that. From this, we find that we can listen to and be led by our flesh or the Spirit. We sometimes tend to love the fight. This is an area we need to study well. Hatred..contentions..dissensions..not being loving toward one another… Many of these sins have something to do with some form of anger. Remember, essential and non-essential disagreements should all be handled with respect.
How We Disagree When We’re Tired of Fighting
Let’s get drubbed together… These are words that can land a blow. Sometimes we all hav a propensity to be mean. Still, there is a repeated theme in the NT Epistles “Be Gentle.” So, I ask, are we exhibiting and bearing that type of fruit or do we love contentions? Let’s take a look some of these verses. First, observe Philippians 2. We don’t have to compromise our theology to be more gentle..This is about being more Christ-like. The conversation between Presbyterians and Believers Baptism folks models this love and gentleness. Are we looking our for the best interest of others? Are we serving one another?
Our true model for this is Jesus Himself. For example, in Matthew 5 – Jesus preaches “Blessed are the meek”. Meekness is the opposite of being out of control. Meek doesn’t mean squishy – it means I’m not contentious. It means that I’m nice. Our Savior came in lowly on a donkey.. It is very easy for us to not be so gentle and be theological bullies.
How the Bible Fights
Next, in segment three, prepare for some left hooks and uppercuts. The Bible stings and sometimes it intentionally lands a knockout punch. Even when he was rebuking, Jesus was always exuding gentleness. Proverbs 6:16. describes …one who sows discord among brethren. These detestable sins provide a glimpse into the depravity of man. Are you feeling the weight of this? God resists the proud and gives grace to the humble. Titus and 1st Peter all about gentleness in the face of persecution. Again, 1 Timothy 3:3 tells us to be gentle, not quarrelsome. Quick to pardon failure. Next, 2 Timothy 2:24-25 teaches that a servant of The Lord must not quarrel but be gentle to all. Also, Romans 12:3-5 encourages us to think of others as better than ourselves.
What Does the Bible Command?
Finally, in segment 4, we see commands in the NT over and over again to do something we’re not bent toward. We’re told to be gentle. Jesus was and we’re supposed to be like Him. Titus 3 insists that we be peaceable, gentle, showing all humility. If you approach someone gently, your conversations tend to last much longer. 1 Peter 2 instructs us to love one another fervently with a pure heart. 1 Peter 3:3 upholds a gentle and quiet and spirit. We can have our convictions and the fruit of the spirit. This isn’t either/or and both/and. For reference, some people who exemplify this are Ray Comfort and Emeal Zwayne. 1 Peter 3:8-12 – have compassion for one another We need to be hyper vigilant toward ourselves. Justin Peters is another gentle one that comes to mind. Colossians 3:12-15 – put on tender mercies, humility, meekness, long suffering.
Download Now (right click and save)
Subscribe to Wretched Radio to receive every new episode directly to your device by selecting your device type or by copying the RSS feed link and pasting it into your podcast application.
