After the Lord had said these things to Job, he said to Eliphaz the Temanite, “I am angry with you and your two friends, because you have not spoken the truth about me, as my servant Job has.
-Job 42:7, NIV
Ever had that “friend” who got furious with you because you did not do whatever they told you to do without question?
I put quotes around the word “friend,” because they are not acting in a way that true friends act. Their anger is designed to dominate and control. That is not a recipe for a healthy friendship.
Maybe your cheater or her apologists became angry with you when you refused to do what they “advised” you to do?
Maybe a church leader became angry with you when you defied their “instruction?”
Like Job’s friends, these sort of people seem to be plentiful in our time of need. Unfortunately, their anger belies that they are there to serve their own egos and not truly to help us.
A good friend and a good pastor offers advice when asked and with an open hand.
They respect your agency. These godly people do not try to bulldoze your boundaries with anger. They accept the reality that you own your own choices and actions. Their place is NOT to dictate those.
A so-called “friend” or other adviser who needs you to do what they tell you to do to the point that anger presents when you decide not to take their advice is neither a good nor a godly adviser.
Steer clear.
A person in tune with Holy Spirit respects our choices and boundaries. The person who is driven by their own flesh or other less godly forces insists with anger that their advice MUST! be taken.
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