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NASB | Isaiah 3:21 finger rings, nose rings, |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | Isaiah 3:21 signet [finger] rings, nose rings, |
Subject: Some verses don't stand alone well |
Bible Note: Good morning to you, sister. Those that are intolerant are just lacking a little bit in understanding. I'm sure they mean well. They just need to learn how to bridle the tongue a little bit. Love does not seek its own, is not puffed up, does not act in pride, is kind, is gentle, is patient. Not everyone understands what love is all about, and there was a time when I didn't understand either. The stepping stones of growth attest to the necessity to overcome this phase. Add to your faith virtue, and to virtue knowledge, and to knowledge temperance ... Such as respond as they did are at this step. They have the faith, they strive for virtue, they have diligently sought knowledge, but they have not yet learned how to temper themselves. Again, I was there once. I look back and can't understand how I behaved that way, but when I was there, I felt absolutely correct and justified in everything I said. If someone contradicted me, they were wrong. Nothing they said or showed me was going to change my mind. Now my bride is wisdom, and I listen to her call. I listen first, consider second, and respond third. I try to esteem everyone as greater than myself whenever possible (though the unfortunate time does occasionally present itself that someone must be rebuked). As a younger Christian, I heard first, but didn't actually listen; responded second, and that with fervor; and I never considered at all unless what they said agreed with me. Needless to say, I didn't learn much in my younger Christian years. I was too busy listening to myself and my own voice to begin to hear the voice of wisdom. I am neither angry or condemning of people like that. They truly do not know better. I don't even sypathize. I empathize, because I was there. But I recognize also that any true Christian will eventually grow out of this phase. Let us move on to the phase beyond even that, and let us add to our temperance patience, that we might have the meekness and humility to guide people to love with our example. This is the goal of the New Testament teaching. "The goal of our instruction is love from a pure heart, clear conscience, and sincere faith." [1 Tim 1:5] To Isaiah 3, I agree, this sounds a great deal like the historical account of the destruction of Jerusalem. Josephus writes that during the slaughter within the walls, the number of the dead were so great that the flow of blood running down the street was actually putting out the fires of burning houses. I can't imagine. Ancient |