What is a jerk? Webster's dictionary defines a jerk as a stupid person, or a person who is not well-liked or who treats people badly. Google has a more succinct description: a contemptibly obnoxious person. Or, as I said on Sunday, a jerk is often just "a big meanie-head!" We all know someone who would be described by those definitions; someone who is just a jerk, and we really don't like being around them, whether they are at our jobs, in our families, or part of our church. But this week, we're not looking at how to get THEM to stop being jerks. We're looking at how WE- Me and You- can go about not being a Jerk! How do we live our lives in a way that people don't write us off because of what we say or how we say it? How do we, as Christians, ensure that people will hear what we have to say about who God is and why we follow Him?
Last week, we looked at the importance of the state of our hearts- the intent, or the WHY, behind the things we say and do. In Matthew 12:33-37, Jesus reminds us that good fruit comes from good trees and evil fruit comes from evil trees. The things we say and do come from the state of our hearts. If we are jerks, if we are meanie-heads, if we are just all around obnoxious and rude and angry and arrogant, then we have to question the state of our heart. Inversely, if we claim to have God in our hearts, to have dedicated our lives to serving the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, then we need to make sure that our words and actions reflect that! Christians have such a bad reputation in our culture for being jerks about things, especially about our beliefs. And because of that, many people will completely tune us out when we start talking like that. So how do we make sure we say what needs to be said (things that are kind, challenging, affirming, or firm) in a way that people will hear us, and more importantly, hear about the God whom we love? John Wesley had a great model for this. He called it the "3 General Rules." These are a great metric for weighing what we say and how we say it. 1) Do no harm, 2) Do good, 3) Stay in love with God. Pretty simple, huh? That's the point. A simple framework for assessing how we say things, and what we say. Try it this week. Take a few seconds before you respond to things and ask yourself: will this do harm to the other person? Will this bring about good? Will this show that I am in love with God and will it help others to love God? Try it. And let me know how it goes!
12 Comments
4/2/2017 04:22:27 am
I want to appreciate your efforts for providing "How NOT to be a jerk" information through your official blog. If anyone have some useful information about this then share it here.
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4/7/2017 11:15:38 pm
Being kind hearted and understanding is easy to do. It only takes discipline and dedication. We shouldn't be tempted by the Devil to hurt others' feelings. We should strive to become a model example for other people. Hopefully, more people can realize that kindness is the key to peace and prosperity in this world.
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4/26/2017 08:38:39 pm
We shouldn't miss this potential for getting that publication in Japaneses model anyway i am certain that folks Japan whom want to create essay about any of it will be happy. Because they may easily download a e book which is very beneficial and interesting for them.
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5/10/2017 08:57:11 pm
We all have our own desires of how we want to manage our paths. Since the choice is ours, let's choose to be a good person and not the other way around. It would always be nice to choose to do good deeds to yourself, and to other people. It's not only the other people that will benefit from it. You'll also get something from it! Not to be a jerk would always lie on us!
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5/15/2017 02:21:08 am
One should not be a jerk nor he should entertain jerks around him.
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7/23/2017 05:47:31 pm
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7/27/2017 06:45:18 am
They are not able to finish the writing assignments on time. For some students, writing any writing assignments is able to waste their time
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7/27/2017 06:47:37 am
This a good way to appreciate the teacher as they put their efforts to train students. UK dissertation Writers appreciates the teachers.
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8/4/2017 02:45:11 am
There are many different stupid things that happened in daily life. but we can't judge them on these basis that it would be jerk or not. so don't blame your self and keep it up.
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9/20/2017 03:10:30 am
That would be helpful for some of my friends.
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9/20/2017 03:47:00 am
I always try not to be like that.
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2/14/2020 01:59:13 am
Like!! I blog quite often and I genuinely thank you for your information. The article has truly peaked my interest.
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AuthorCori Conran is the pastor of The United Methodist Church of Coopersville, a wife, a mother, and an avid amateur at lots of things. Archives
December 2021
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