Well,that "storm"I mentioned,came ashore into my life,today................

[warthog]

....My oldest sister has ALWAYS been,the one in my family to express her opinion VERY LOUDLY,and if you didn't agree with her;you were history,and if you DARE to tell her if there was a wrong committed,LORD help you....................WELL,folks,nothing has changed:She can hurt,maim,and destroy with her mouth;and it has happened,yet again,with me:After I sent her that E-mail,expressing my concern to her that she is ALWAYS viewing my gestures of love and giving,in suspicion and skpeticism,and it is bothering me,she answered me in this way:"YOU should just quit feeling sorry for yourself,and quit being so "ITS ALL ABOUT STEVE",......"i will take this @#$% from no man"........THEN:she told me to go to H#$%.........And,she never wants to see me,hear from me,or even think about me,ever again.........Sounds bad,does it not? It's really not so bad-WHY???simple:I KNEW,she would react this way-She always has,she did it to our mother once,right in front of me.....I have not heard from my other sister,who has taken delight in teaming up with my oldest sister,when they presume they are being slighted,by me.Last time this happened,I swallowed my pride,and I apologized to both of them,for something totally innocent,and then both of them were as happy as clams,just to hear an"i'm sorry",regardless if there was to be something to be sorry about,or not.....THIS TIME,I thought about what a Christian would say when faced with this,and I told them what has been needed to have been said for a LONG time:I TOLD THEM THE TRUTH.............I sent my other sister an e-mail today,telling her it was not a nice thing to be doing,ganging up on me with my oldest sister,and viewing my gestures of love toward them with skepticism,and suspicion.I did NOT resort to name-calling or screaming,the TRUTH is all I told.I also told I am NOT sorry,for standing up and telling the truth,I will NOT apologize for telling the truth.......SAD....My oldest sister,a couple months ago;called me all sorts of rotten names,and demanded I apologized,for hurting her,and I DID;even though there was nothing to be sorry for...This time,I tell her she hurt ME,and I'm told to "GO TO H#$%!!!!!!",......my oldest sister has a TON of anger in her soul,and NOBODY,is immune to it.BROTHERS AND SISTERS,I AM OK-PLEASE,PRAY FOR JAN,AND LINDA,2 of my 3 sisters...............Steve..........

 

[C. Nyal de Kaye]

I am sorry to read of your problems Warty. Years ago now I blew up and told someone off. That person was trampling all over me and said many insulting things, hence my reaction.

I rang a missionary mate of mine and told him the story. He said, "You must apologise for what you said. If you are responsible for 3% of the problem then you must apologise for your 3%."

I did not want to hear that. I thought about it for a while and the more I thought about it, the less I wanted to apologise. But I did know that my mate was right and to turn the other cheek was required of me.

I did ring, in much fear and trepidation. As I said I was sorry I suddenly really did feel sorry. The other person did not say sorry for what they did, but did accept my apology.

From that day to this (probably 20 years) our friendship has been strong and as recently as ten minutes ago I received an email invitation from that person to come and visit them today for lunch.

I hope that I learned from that bitter time. Both sides are usually at fault in any dispute and, as the Lord's people, we are responsible for our own side of the problem. We must apologise for our part in the matter and not expect anything from the other party.

Being a follower of Jesus does mean turning the other cheek and it takes His grace to enable us to do it. Our hearts are so hard.

Warty old mate, you probably don't want to hear this, as I didn't want to hear it at the time mentioned above, but I eventually did hear it and, by the Lord's good grace, was enabled to act upon it. The problem was resolved in my case and a stronger friendship developed, but even if it doesn't, we must follow the Lord and do good.

As a side-light on this little episode, it did make me a lot more cautious about what I say! Apologising is hard to do due to our pride.

Every blessing in Him Warty.

 

[Sandtick]

Wow C. Nyal de Kaye what a great post!
I'm printing out your response and putting it in my Bible as a reminder to be a better Christian.
Thank you!