Lord, in the face of bitter or indifferent opposition help me to maintain the difference between:

complaint and protest,

rage and responsible activism,

tantrums and well-informed opposition,

whingeing and vulnerability,

slavery and selfless care,

arrogance and wisdom,

indifferent tolerance and authentic love,

ignorance and peace,

a punching bag and forgiveness,

a careless sorry and repentance,

blame and confession,

wants and rights,

hate speech and saying “no”,

being consumed and consuming,

veiled jealousy and gratitude,

covert put down and genuine compliment,

half-truth and truth,

‘Cheap.

             And.

                      Costly.

                                 Grace’ [1].

‘…the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere…for where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every vile practise’ (James. 3:17)

By your light we see light. (Psalm. 36:9)

Sources:

[1] Bonhoeffer, D. 1948 Cost of Discipleship SCM Press.