growth and love

People who hold reformed doctrines tend to be labeled many times as arrogant and overly adament in the expression of their views on grace. This is a great injustice to the doctrines of grace, since those who hold to these doctrines (such as myself) should really understand humility deeper; after all, we are those who believe that it was of no work or choice of our own that we are in Christ and that the work of God chose us, the vile things, out of his infinite goodness and wisdom. I never saw myself as one of the arrogant and overly adament until this week when I seriously scarred a relationship with one of the most important people in my life with my own puffed up attitude and relentless attacks. For this, I repent to this person and to God, and only hope that He will mend what I have wounded.

Since this experience, I have been thinking a lot about how to love with the truth as we are called to do in Ephesians 4:13,14: "Then we will no longer be infants,...Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ." I definately received a humbling blow with the knowledge of my lack of maturity and lack of sensitivity this week. In stressing my opinions in an overly aggressive way, I gave many false implications of what my faith is all about. Although I still believe that love for this person motivated me, I distorted true doctrines and true love into my own soapbox. I spoke the truth, but the love was not that of Christ. May the Lord lead me as a person of belief in reformed doctrines of grace to always be humble in the manner in which I present the truth of the impossible (yet believable) love of God for unworthy sinners, of which, as I was assured this week, I am the worst.

I give praise to God that his sovereign reign is able to undue the damage that I have done in distorting Christianity to this person whom I love. I repent of the harm I may have done to this relationship and, more importantly, to the harm I may have done to this person's view of God and Protestant Christianity. My hope is that they can forgive me and see beyond the arrogance to the truth of what I have presented. May the Lord guide me to speak the truth in love through the humility expressed in the life and death of Christ.