If only!

“It is disturbing to hear the vitriolic invective leveled against governmental leaders in public discourse. Scathing verbal muggings and personal character assassinations are commonplace, accepted, and even expected. Issues on which people differ soon reach the level of personal assault.

This acrimony is not limited to the secular realm. Rancor finds itself on the lips of Christians who join in the rhetoric. Such mean-spiritedness infects the discourse of the church itself when its members engage in gossip and personal attack.

Life in the Vine promotes a different approach for us as children of God. In the passage we saw earlier, the apostle calls us “to be subject to rulers and authorities, to obey, to be ready for every good work, to speak evil of no one, to be peaceable, gentle, showing all humility to all men” (Titus 3:1–2). We are to be courteous, not contentious, and gentle, not abusive.”— Vine Ripened Life

<idle musing>
If only that were true of us! We can't even say with I John 3:18 that we love in word (Τεκνία, μὴ ἀγαπῶμεν λόγῳ μηδὲ τῇ γλώσσῃ ἀλλὰ ἐν ἔργῳ καὶ ἀληθείᾳ/ Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth)! Lord, may we be known as people who love in word as well as in deed!
</idle musing>