Just Continue That Thought...

A thought by James MacDonald (2015-06-18) from his book, Lord, Change My Attitude: Before It's Too Late (p. 159). Moody Publishers. Kindle Edition. ( Click on the title of the book to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.) Now usually when there is a misunderstanding we are very critical of the other person.   We want to set them straight.   But as 1 Corinthians 13: 7 says, “Love bears all things, believes all things.” James says, “Love finds itself saying on a regular basis, ‘That’s not what she meant.’ It believes the best about the other person. ‘You don’t know what you’re talking about. That’s not why he did that.’” James goes on, “When Jesus said, ‘Judge not lest you be judged,’ He was specifically dealing with motives. Of course, we have to judge actions. What we’re not to judge are motives. We don’t know why people do what they do.   Don’t ever say, ‘I know why she’s up there. I know why he does that.’ You probably do not. When you hear somebody criticizing someo

A thought by James MacDonald (2015-06-18) from his book, Lord, Change My Attitude: Before It's Too Late (p. 154). Moody Publishers. Kindle Edition. ( Click on the title of the book to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.) We are dealing here with criticism and the need to replace it with love.   And the love chapter in the New Testament, 1 Corinthians 13 can be summarized in the following statements: On the majors— action. On the minors— acceptance. In all things— love.   And James says, “97 percent of life’s issues are minor.” He goes on to say, “By minors we mean personal preference, personality differences... It’s essential that followers of Christ be the most accepting, nonprejudiced, nonfaultfinding, noncritical people on the face of the earth. Again, 97 percent of life’s issues are minor: little irritations; the differences between me and you; and she-thinks-like-this-but-I-don’t-see-it-that-way, and he’s-a-little-different-kind-of-a-person-than-me, and no-way-did-h

A thought by James MacDonald (2015-06-18) from his book, Lord, Change My Attitude: Before It's Too Late (p. 150). Moody Publishers. Kindle Edition. ( Click on the title of the book to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.) You may then ask, what do I do when there is a serious issue? James says, “Failure to take action will produce big fallout. In those instances, love does not sit passively by.  ‘ I love him, so I won’t upset him. ’  Wrong! Love takes action on things that are major. You say, ‘What’s major?’” James gives three guidelines to determine what are major things where love means taking action: “1. Is this a critical path? If failure to take action will produce major fallout, biblical love is on the move. If it’s a major doctrinal error, a case of marital unfaithfulness, a criminal act, or an abusive behavior, please don’t collect stories for ten years and sit passively by. Step up! Get involved! Say something! Love takes action. If the person you love i