I like to go in forums and strike up debates with people. It drives me to study and prove the truth behind what i am saying. I am my biggest critic. I guess I try to stay open-minded about myself. I am not a respecter of persons and that means myself included. There are times when I’m on forums debating and arguing when people take what i say and either twist it, or take the polar extreme of what I’m saying and argue with me on their own conclusions.
For instance, I wrote on a forum that cheerfulness is required in giving to God, so in turn someone accuses me of saying that we shouldn’t give unless we feel like it. First, I never stated that, but nonetheless, I try to reason with them. In a nutshell, my conclusion was that cheerfulness is not required “in order to” give, it is required “of” giving. There is a difference in the comparing statement above. You don’t sit around and wait for your heart to get right in order to obey God’s orders.
So anyways, I get accused further for obeying God based on emotion. Then they want me to provide bible verses that show how emotions is a requirement to obtain or maintain salvation. . . the list goes on and on. Quite frankly, it gets very tiring and annoying. I don’t know why I try to reason with people, or why I even go back to that forum. Maybe one of you reading this is a psychologist and can explain why a dog returns to its vomit, and why i go back to this emotionally draining forum.
So yeah, as I said, I am pretty open-minded, but it just is crazy to me that people aren’t the same way. I mean for crying out loud. People will argue with you over one stinking little word that you said, instead of sticking to the subject. I have conceded to many things on the opposing side of the tithing debate, but not once can I remember in my 400-something posts, that the opposing side conceded to me.
If I state that the tithe was part of the fulfilled law and is not required for New Covenant Christians, I get painted as a heretic that is trying to throw out the bible. It’s crazy. I feel like I’m the one that has to defend my position, but in reality, I’m the one that is armed with so many accusations and questions that they should be the ones on defense.
So Anyways, my question to you is do you think cheerfulness is required of giving? I don’t want to know if you should be happy in order to give. I want to know if being cheerful is a command just as much as giving is a command? I feel like this answer is obvious, but I want to hear your opinion. I want to make sure I am not losing my mind on this issue. The next post i will state my defense and reasoning on this issue.