day no. 16,963: too weak to put up with others' weaknesses

Romans 15:1

We then that are strong ought to bear the infirmities of the weak, and not to please ourselves.

The weak cannot put up with the failings of others. It is one of their many weaknesses. So, if you imagine yourself strong, prove it. Put up with something. Don’t melt down like a snowflake. Stand up and bear up under adversity like a man. If you can’t, or won’t, you are the weak one everyone else is putting up with, not the strong one everyone else needs to listen to. 

True, we must not pursue unity at any cost, but we must not accept disunity simply because it might cost us something. There is a unity that costs too much. It gives up too much to gain too little, like a young woman making her case for purity to a young man from the discomfort of his backseat. But there is also a disunity that is too cheap. It gives up too quickly. It hits unsubscribe on real people before it knows the whole story. It throws shade too freely at anyone who happens to disagree with them about anything. 

Galatians 6:1-4

Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted. Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ. For if a man think himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceiveth himself. But let every man prove his own work, and then shall he have rejoicing in himself alone, and not in another.

If someone has food stuck in his teeth, point it out, sure, but don’t punch him in the face. Grace doesn’t require lying, but it does require you to let a sleeping dog or two lie. Love covers a multitude of sins. But if a person has cancer, don't call it inconsequential, or even worse, "cute." Don't coddle cobras, but be careful when trying to corral or kill them. They do bite.

In other words, have a sense of proportion. Do not be out of order. As much as we need our affections rightly ordered, we also need our hostilities properly ordered. We must have character, but we must be charitable. We must have resolutions, but we must be reasonable. We must be wise when we shake someone’s hand… and when we shake our fists.

Simply stated, we must be Christian. We must join the apostle Paul in saying, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.” (2 Tim. 4:7)