It is going to take humility to endure with patience. One, because patient endurance requires trust in Christ to avenge or resolve any wrongdoing done to us that provoked us. Although, the norm isn’t to be provoked to patience, but to fighting. We want to fight for our reputation when someone gets out of pocket lying or accusing us, but it takes discipline and humility to patiently endure remaining consistent in our character.
This is something the Lord is personally dealing with me on. It’s also something I noted from Michelle Obama’s book when media was painting her as an angry Black woman who was anti-American during her campaigning for her husband prior to the White house win; She was advised that the best way to respond was not to respond at all.
How many of us would be able to humble ourselves not to respond if the Holy Spirit told us not to do so? Not many would be willing if they had not already begun training themselves for humility.
In Psalms 35:13, David shares how he humbled his soul—mind, will, and, emotions, with fasting and prayer. In the whole chapter, he complains to the Lord about how these people that he prayed for treated him poorly as if he was an enemy. His response was not to defend himself but to entreat the Lord to defend him with fasting and prayer. Thus, we see that fasting and prayer is one way to protect our spirit and to cause us to walk in humility.
It causes us to hear the instruction of God more clearly, so we will know how to respond to any given situation. Recently, I’d been fasting and praying about somethings. I wanted to know how to settle and resolve a thing in my spirit. I needed to know how to respond to people with religious spirits, who accuse others such as myself without being prideful or responding in pride. Below are some of the scriptures that came up in my spirit:
Ye have heard that it hath been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth: But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if any man will sue thee at the law, and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloak also. And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain. Give to him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of thee turn not thou away. – Matthew 5:38-42
Don’t Respond on the Defense, but Learn to Trust God and Your Character to Defend You:
I’ve made up in my mind to no longer respond to the religious even in my mind. This is in line with the idea of being so humble that I realize I don’t have to defend myself. God will defend me, and my godly character will also provide a defense for me. Not focusing on the negative things said by religious accusers allows me to keep my mind clear to focus on what God is saying. It also allows me to avoid any self-fulfilling prophecies of the negative being said.
I will admit, I am not perfect at this. I’m learning and becoming disciplined in this area. The scriptures above speak about a level of humility that is rarely seen–allowing someone to mistreat us while trusting God to provide justice for us. I was reminded on this week, how our boy, “David” was tempted again to get back at someone who disrespected him. This time, it was a guy named Nabal. When David was on his way to recompense Nabal for what he did to him. God allowed Abigail, Nabal’s wife to intercede for her household preventing bloodshed. Later, that night, God killed Nabal and Nabal’s wife was given over to David. God ended up recompensing him. God will do the same with us if we do not allow ourselves to get out of the character of trusting in God.
When Teaching, Only Share What God Gives Me to Share. Don’t Respond to Accusers During Teachings:
But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law. – Galatians 5:18
There is a freedom that I can expect when being led by the Spirit instead of being drawn into the flesh through a fight with a religious person. It’s simply a distraction. I have to guard my mind, will, and emotions from distractions that would cause me to be in bondage to the laws of man. Every man has his own interpretation of the law and how things should go, but the Spirit of God is the one who gives the proper interpretation of his own Word. He wrote it.
“Having too much respect for man’s opinion can lead to fear of man instead of fear for God which is a form of bondage.
There’s more than I’ve written in my journal regarding this, but this is enough information to get the drift that humility is required to navigate those who come against us in any way with negativity. The enemy could very well be using them to distract us, but if we are walking in the Spirit, we can dodge the distraction through patience and endurance.
I am still learning about this, and thus, God will probably send more tests my way to perfect this inside of me. This is why we should be thankful for tests not always wishing they would go away. They are here to refine us. Refine me Lord to the place of humility that you desire. Teach me how to be wise as a serpent, but harmless as a dove.
To be wise means we see what’s going on clearly. To be harmless as a dove means we’ve made a conscious choice not to respond in a way that provokes war, distraction, and disturbance in our spirit. We maintain our balance of peace through patience, humility, and trusting in God to exonerate us.
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