NO arguments in 2017
The man with all the answers could have argued, but He was smart and He just let the woman have her opinions without correcting her. The wise Man wasn't interested in winning the argument of ownership of the well, nor did He respond to why people with a different ethnic background or political view insist that they were correct. He also remained calm after shocking her by simply asking her for a drink. You see, He was more interested in winning her soul than having her agree with His beliefs. His way was to 'be' understanding of varying cultures. He was consistently courteous to those who held opposing beliefs. For me, there is an important lesson in the story of Jesus meeting the woman with a questionable character at the well. Therefore, I choose to refuse to argue with people who hold different political or spiritual beliefs. Wisely I will hold my tongue, smile, listen and offer "I can understand how you feel, I once felt that way too, but you know what I found?" IF they ask "What?" Then I will respond with "I found that my ways, and my judgments did not honor God, and so today, I choose to love everyone, even if their ways are not what I believe they should be."
“Sir,” the woman said, “you must be a prophet. But say, tell me, why is it that you Jews insist that Jerusalem is the only place of worship, while we Samaritans claim it is here at Mount Gerizim, where our ancestors worshiped?” Jesus replied, “The time is coming, ma’am, when we will no longer be concerned about whether to worship the Father here or in Jerusalem. For it’s not where we worship that counts, but how we worship—is our worship spiritual and real? Do we have the Holy Spirit’s help? For God is Spirit, and we must have his help to worship as we should. The Father wants this kind of worship from us. But you Samaritans know so little about him, worshiping blindly, while we Jews know all about him, for salvation comes to the world through the Jews.” The woman said, “Well, at least I know that the Messiah will come—the one they call Christ—and when he does, he will explain everything to us.” Then Jesus told her, “I am the Messiah!”
ReplyDeleteJust then his disciples arrived. They were surprised to find him talking to a woman, but none of them asked him why, or what they had been discussing." John Chapter 4 TLB