First, forgiveness. It is not the Christian’s obligation to forgive your every sin. Forgiveness is first between you and God, not between you and me. Whether I forgive you is irrelevant. Take it up with God.
I probably do forgive. It doesn’t mean I put up with your BS. Forgiveness means you get to start over. So holding over my head, “She said she was sorry, Man,” doesn’t make me feel guilty, and it doesn’t make me listen.
Now, if you want to use forgiveness as a weapon against me, point out that the individual in question seems to be on a new path, and maybe we could give her the benefit of doubt. That will soften me. Remember, benefit of doubt, new path. Got it?
Next, God commands us to love. It is a great rule, no? Wowzers. I mean, what’s more powerful than love? Yet there’s something distinctly weird about using a command to love as a weapon. How do you taunt someone that if they were a real Christian, they would be more loving? I mean, taunting and loving don’t seem to fit in the same sentence. Besides, Christians are commanded to love God with all their heart and their neighbor as themselves. If you love God with all your heart, there’s no room for anger.
But I’ve looked all around it, and I can’t find where we’re to walk in a sewer to prove how loving we are. Loving God isn’t about appearing loving. It’s about being love. Hmm. Let’s try this a different way. I mean, you want to use this against me, so you can win arguments, right? Try this. If my heart is filled with God’s love, there’s no room for coldness, because the true opposite of love isn’t anger. The true opposite is uncaring. Remember, uncaring towards others will separate me from God? Okay?
Trust is the ultimate reflection of faith. So, you want to say I have to trust you. Yet, trust in God is such a completely different level than any human trust that it’s not even the same thing. The moment you use trust as a weapon, you prove you don’t get that, just in case there was any doubt. If you want to use trust in God as a weapon against a Christian (me, for example), point out that if the Christian is trusting God and walking with God in every step, then God put you next to me. He might have wanted me to hear you out, possibly. Or he might have wanted me to stare blankly while you rant, wondering why you’re so anti-Christian.
Are you anti-Christian, or are you afraid of God? Remember this. Forgiveness is for everyone, and it’s between you and God, not you and me. Love can fill your whole heart, so much that there’s no room for anger. Trusting God means, “Show me the next step, God.” It doesn’t mean gaining approval of other Christians. It means you and me, God. That’s all.
Hope you found this helpful. It should make arguments more interesting.
