Day 343- How to Agree to Disagree With Love
📖Daily Reading
2 John
🎥 Video
Join me on my morning walk as we rise and shine together by walking through the Bible daily and learn a practical applicable coaching nugget from the ultimate life coach - our creator (whatever that means to you). No judgement zone here, all are welcome, we are all on a spiritual journey because we are after all spiritual beings having a human experience.
📝 Reflection
2 John 1:10
'If anyone comes to your meeting and does not teach the truth about Christ, don’t invite that person into your home or give any kind of encouragement. '
The book or letter of 2nd John is short and straight forward. The people he is writing to are having on going trouble with false teachers. So his advice on how to deal with them in love is to set what we would call healthy boundaries in today’s modern lexicon. Boundaries are not about changing other people they are about you and how you will react in certain situations with other people.
John understands that he has no control over the false teachers and their teachings, and neither do those under his watch. But they do have control over their own actions, reactions and interactions. That is what he addresses here. Setting some simple guidelines of protections. Don’t invite them into your home and don’t give them encouragement of any kind.
As I was thinking about this I also wanted to remind us, the audience to incorporate the point that Paul was so good at threading throughout his writings; act in accordance with your own conscience, keeping it clear. So while John might be talking literally about keeping the false teachers out of actual homes and dwellings, I started thinking about it metaphorically also.
Guard your internal home; your heart, your mind, your spirit, your thoughts etc.. . Be careful about letting things in that you don’t agree with. Keep your conscience clear. Don’t give encouragement. This is a word that can mean a lot of different things, so he adds the extra qualification ‘of any kind’. When we encourage things that we don’t agree with we are sending mixed messages. Not just to the one we are encouraging, but also to others watching, but even more importantly to ourselves.
We humans are very vulnerable and easily influenced. We can feel very strongly about something, but spend enough time with those with other opinions, especially if you like them, you will find yourself doubting your own once strong thoughts. It takes a lot of strength of character to withstand this type of exposure to mixed messages. Some can do it, but most will find challenging if not impossible.
This doesn’t mean that we need to be closed off, closed minded or condescending. He is very specific here, don’t invite them into your home or give encouragement. He does’t say run for the hills, avoid all contact, wag your finger and tell them to be different, have confrontations, be unkind etc.. You are responsible for you, I am responsible for me and when we each do our part we can lovingly agree to disagree.
This is something I am growing in personally, as I am a recovering people pleaser with very few boundaries at all. In the past it felt unkind to not be encouraging to anyone or not give them attention. I was getting all kinds of mixed messages, especially from myself. So if you are like me, be patient with yourself, it takes a lot of time and practice to learn to trust yourself again and know what you actually think and believe for yourself.
✍🏼Daily Journal Prompt
How do you guard yourself and your conscience with things you don’t agree with? Have you cultivated the skills and healthy boundaries to agree to disagree? Can you learn to use an empowered no? Tip: Come up with a few phrases in the beginning to give yourself time to respond in a way that honors you, God and others with love.
📖Tomorrows Reading
3 John
Coaching Opportunity
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