“The Lord’s servant must be… patient, correcting his opponents with gentleness. God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth,
Suppose you have heard that a friend has fallen into some grievous sin. You love them, want what’s best for them and feel an obligation to help them. It is rather obvious, that to do this you must first overcome any physical barriers to helping them. You can’t very well correct them if you cannot communicate physically with them, say by a letter, phone call or in person. So you do what ever it takes to remedy such physical obstacles. But would it not be just as expedient to overcome any emotional barriers as well. Would it not be wise to position yourself in such a way as to be heard? This may mean holding your desire to speak before they are ready to listen. Perhaps just unconditionally loving them, being with them, or waiting on them to inquire may be the best way we can position ourselves to be heard. We are many times too quick to speak our counsel. No one would be silly enough to do this if a person were physically unable to listen. Wouldn’t it be just as foolish to try and give counsel to someone when they cannot emotionally hear us. “The tongue of the wise makes knowledge acceptable.” Prov15.2 NASB
Just me trying to be honest with God.
