Use your head. Do not let your emotion overcome you. Focus on emerging victorious. Use the provocation as an excuse to minister to the provocateur.
12 It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. MATTHEW 9
Pray for humility, gentleness and guidance; then go to him. Validate with him what you saw or heard. Listen intently to what he would say and listen with an open mind because it is possible that: (1) The fault lies with you and not with him; (2) The fault lies with the two of you, not only with him; or (3) A satanic deception took place causing you and your neighbor to harbor a prejudice, resentment, suspicion or some other ill-feeling.
Do validation while everything is fresh in your minds. It would be difficult to pinpoint fault and to make the needed corrections if your memory of the details is already failing. Do validation before the wrongs (or what you perceive to be wrongs) pile up in your hearts. Piling them up would stress the heart and leave little room for rationality. Once tolerance level is breached, the human tendency is to explode in sudden, uncontrolled anger.
Do not confront the provocateur if you are in a disturbed state. Ecclesiasticus 10:6 says, “Do not resent your neighbor’s offence and never act in a fit of passion.” Cool it. Come clean. Do not let any ill-feeling disturb you. Do not go to any confrontation if you are not ready to be disturbed anew.
11 Whoever hates his brother is in the darkness; and as he walks around in the darkness, he does not know where he is going, for the darkness is blinding him. 1 JOHN 2
Confront the provocateur for the purpose of advancing the will of God. Love finds no pleasure in the death of anyone (Ezekiel 18:32) but it rejoices when a sinner is raised from the dead (Luke 15:11-32). Remember, you are confronting him so that the misunderstanding, ill-feelings and other negativities between the two of you may be cleared and erased. Do not let the demonic forces manipulate you or the provocateur, but rather manipulate the occasion to advance the will of God. Make sure all the wrongs are pinpointed with clarity and precision, so that in the end, everyone could have a clear picture of what actually happened. Create an atmosphere where heavy hearts could be unburdened, where antagonism could be replaced with protagonism, where divine love could be sown in the hearts of everyone present, where the offender could seek forgiveness and make restitution, where love-relationships could bloom and everyone could be thankful to God for the confrontation…
Whatever happens, do not give up on the provocateur. Persist in harrowing him with divine love; it’s the best way to teach about God and His righteousness.
16 Let the Word of the Messiah dwell in you richly, so you can teach and admonish one another with all wisdom. COLOSSIANS 3
9 You must rescue everyone while there is still time. JEREMIAH 6 tev
17 God did not send His Son to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him. JOHN 3
If you must rebuke the offender, rebuke wisely (Leviticus 19:17).
49 Do not use harmful words, but rather use only helpful words—the kind that builds up and provide what is needed—so that what you say may do good to those who hear you. EPHESIANS 4 tev
1 A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger. PROVERBS 15
24 God’s people must not be quarrelsome; they must be gentle, patient teachers of those who are wrong. 25 Be humble when you are trying to teach those who are mixed up concerning the truth. For if you talk meekly and courteously to them they are more likely, with God’s help, to turn away from their wrong ideas and believe what is true. 26 Then they will come to their senses and escape from Lucifer’s trap of slavery to sin (which he uses to catch them whenever he likes), and then they can begin doing the will of God. 2 TIMOTHY 2 tlb (Parenthesis supplied)
Treat the Offence as Part of Divine Justice Repayment of Offences You Committed
Better to repay your debts on earth than in hell.
Do Not Judge Your Neighbor
There is only one Judge and he is not you.
17 Judgment belongs to God. DEUTERONOMY 17
12 There is one Lawgiver and Judge, the one who is able to save and destroy. But you—who are you to judge your neighbor? JAMES 4
37 Don’t judge and you won’t be judged. Don’t condemn and you won’t be condemned. LUKE 6 cjb
Prophet Joseph was to slavery by his brothers and suffered a lot but he did not judge them.
19 Joseph said to them, “Don’t be afraid. Am I in the place of God? 20 You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives. 21 So then, don’t be afraid. I will provide for you and your children.” And he reassured them and spoke kindly to them. GENESIS 50
Nineveh was so wicked God could not find one elect in it but He did not judge its people.
9 [God] is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. 2 PETER 3
21 The Messiah, who suffered for you, is your example. Follow in His steps: 22 He never sinned, never told a lie, never answered back when insulted; when He suffered, He never threatened to get even; He left His case in the hands of God who always judges fairly. 1 PETER 2 tlb
25 It is enough for the student to be like his teacher, and [the bondslave to be] like his master. MATTHEW 10
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