BEING WINSOME

I've been reading Tim Challies' excellent blog recently and he's had some interesting debates raging about some hot topics, particularly birth control and homeschooling. His conclusions on these subjects were a little surprising to me (I expected he would agree with me), but it got me thinking about my own positions and how I speak about them with others. My husband is well aware of my tendency to hold tenaciously to a new conviction. Every once in a while I learn about something new or study a certain topic or hear someone speak on something and (more often than not) if I agree with it I immediately become a champion of that someone or something. It's all or nothing with me at first. That's what happened with homeschooling and birth control. I became convinced of my positions and whenever I encountered someone who had a different view I had this underlying, almost always, prideful feeling that I was right and they were wrong. Why couldn't they see it the way I did?

Pretty bad, huh? The enemy definitely knows where to tempt me, but I'm glad that He who is in me is greater than He who is in the world. The Lord continues to tenderly open my eyes to my own sin so I can be free of it. Praise Him! Loving my fellow believers in Christ should be more important than convincing them that I'm right on these issues. When I speak I should edify not divide. Everything I say and do should adorn the gospel. Being winsome means to be agreeable and pleasant. Having convictions is not bad, but wisdom requires that I hold them and speak of them in a way that brings honor to Christ and edifies His body, not my ego.