(July 17, 2023 at 4:44 pm)Lek Wrote: Since my last post here I attended a bible study and had an unpleasant revelation. It came to me as we read Ephesians 4:15 which reads: "Instead, speaking the truth in LOVE, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is Christ".
It hit me that I've been speaking what I believe to be the truth, but coming off as very unloving. The truth is that I do love immigrants and LBGTQ individuals and everybody else, but have different ideas to help and better everyone in our society.
When discussing and debating issues I tend to focus narrowly on the issue at hand. As long as I'm not spewing hatred I assume that others will not think of me as hateful. Anyway, In the future I will try to express my feelings in that regard as I make my points. I apologize to anyone I may have unintentionally hurt.
The issue isn't with a lack of "love". It's lack of acceptance and empathy that's the problem. It's not listening to what the other side is saying, and insisting that they have to be wrong for sure, even though experientially you would never truly understand what it's like to be in their shoes and never get to worry about the kind of things they have had to constantly worry about. It's not challenging your own position on these matters to see that maybe they might have a point.
IMO, it's not your compassion they want from you. It's intellectual humility, because without that, you are less likely to ever have your stance changed on these matters when exposed to adequate relevant information and answers from the other side that objectively negate whatever you believe about them.
