So many with hard and cold hearts

R

rainydaygirl Feb 15, 2011

I was thinking about how rude, and just down right mean people are today. I would go so far as to say that people come across as more cold and hate filled then in times past? In the news, on the internet, even in the grocery stores...people are just mean and rude to one another. DO you think this is because there is a hardening of peoples hearts? Just makes me feel sad inside to see so much anger and rudeness toward others with out thought or regard of another persons feelings. Where has simple acts of kindness or thoughtfulness gone? Or maybe they were never really there and it was just an allusion...sigh

rdg

A

A-beliver Feb 15, 2011

Hello, rainydaygirl, I understand where you are coming from. Without seeming to come off as rude, but have you ever tried to find out why they are the way they are. This has always seemed to work for me. Next time someone seems to be acting rude, try to stop and talk to them if at all possible, you never know you might be able to help meet a need on their life. And I will pray that God will give you the strenght and courage to do this.

sincerely, Your brother in christ

R

rainydaygirl Feb 15, 2011

but have you ever tried to find out why they are the way they are. This has always seemed to work for me. Next time someone seems to be acting rude, try to stop and talk to them if at all possible, you never know you might be able to help meet a need on their life. And I will pray that God will give you the strenght and courage to do this.

Sadly I have only to have people react "very" badly. The amount of people who are just angry and rude to others around them is very sad to see. Just the other day while in the store an older gentleman stepped into line not realizing he was cutting in front of another person. The man he cut in front of began cussing and screaming at him, the older man apologized over and over again but it was of no use. The man carried on so much that the older gentleman just walked away. Another situation was in another store when a check out lady calmly and politely told a young mother of two that she had placed her cart on the wrong side of the cash register and would she please move to the correct side. This young mom right in front of her children went off. She was filled with anger and began calling the check out lady names before storming off to customer service to complain. Its not just in the stores, its in traffic, in the news media, and the internet.

Its just something I have been observing, the way people treat others...

rdg

sermonindex Feb 15, 2011

2Ti 3:1 This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come.
2Ti 3:2 For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy,
2Ti 3:3 Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good,
2Ti 3:4 Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God;
2Ti 3:5 Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.
2Ti 3:6 For of this sort are they which creep into houses, and lead captive silly women laden with sins, led away with divers lusts,
2Ti 3:7 Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.
2Ti 3:8 Now as Jannes and Jambres withstood Moses, so do these also resist the truth: men of corrupt minds, reprobate concerning the faith.

Mat 24:6 And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.
Mat 24:7 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.
Mat 24:8 All these are the beginning of sorrows.
Mat 24:9 Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name's sake.
Mat 24:10 And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another.
Mat 24:11 And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many.
Mat 24:12 And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many [Gr-"most"] shall wax cold.

The spirit of "lawlessness" has entered the world and even the Church. Violence fills the land and dear sister, it will only get worse... to where brother kills brother, etc..

Be built up in HIM.

sermonindex Feb 15, 2011

Proverbs 15:1 A soft answer turneth away wrath: but grievous words stir up anger.

It's amazing how a soft word spoken can settle an angry spirit. When someone is ugly over something and they speak it out and if we up the ante, it gets worse, but if we speak in a manner that doesn't feed their spirit they will revert to a manner that is more reasonable. If there is no fuel for the fire, the fire will eventually die out. I have seen this time and time again.

It's how we respond to a hard and cold heart that is important. When someone looks at us the wrong way, how do we respond? When we are mistreated by others how do we respond? When we love people, it's generally the unlovable. It's hard to love someone that hates your guts. I have family members that can't stand me. When they see me, I can see them tightening up and displaying a show of kindness that is taking everything in them from telling me to, "Go to hell" or something even worse. But I go the extra mile and hug them, I can feel the animosity, but there is nothing in me that is putting on a show, I love my family even if they can't stand me. The one that took a weapon to me many years ago and tried to kill me with it, I show more love even though that person still is cold towards me.

A little bit of kindness goes along way against the kingdom of the devil.

R

rainydaygirl Feb 16, 2011

I agree return kindness and love with a Christlike
heart. I guess being from a smaller town I had
not seen this as much but sadly am becoming
more aware now.

Thank you for your replies
rdg

sermonindex Feb 21, 2011

I agree return kindness and love with a Christlike heart. I guess being from a smaller town I had not seen this as much but sadly am becoming more aware now.

Matthew 24:12-13

Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved.

This verse was preached yesterday at the church I'm attending now. It was a church I attended a year ago, I left for about half a year and just came back. I can FEEL the coldness in the church now.

YOU ARE 100% CORRECT. EVERYONE NOTICES HOW COLD THIS WORLD HAS BECOME, NOT ONLY CHRISTIANS. AND ESPECIALLY SINCE THE ECONOMIC DOWNTURN.

There is even song by a band called

Thrice -Cold Cash and Colder Hearts

tbh, it aches my heart, the coldness is killing me and when Jesus speaks of loving your brothers, it kills me more because I always end up trying to love people STUPIDLY and usually I end up getting used and frustrated. That's one of the reasons I left. This is a bad time for me and I'm suffering and I ask God, How can I love these people when I don't get shown any love?

He replies in a whisper, the message in this passage

When I was ministering to persecuted Christians in Sudan, Sudanese helicopter gunships attacked my team and me. Several people were killed as we fled for our lives. After escaping and hiding in the rocks, I sat with a pastor who had lost everything. His village had been attacked and his church was burned to the ground. All his possessions were lost and he, like me, had nothing but the shirt on his back. People from his church had been killed and now he was on the run. I asked him if during his suffering he was ever tempted to doubt God’s love. His reply hit me like a brick to the side of my head. “I am most aware of God’s presence when I am suffering,” he told me. In the West our blessings have left us content without revival. If a man can live without revival, then he will be content without it. But when he is desperate for a touch from heaven, then God will bring brokenness–and he will no longer trust in the arm of the flesh. More than anything today in America, we need humility. Leaders who are pompous and have an overstated importance need to humble themselves. No longer should our first question be, “How big is your church?” but rather, “What is the spiritual condition of the members?” Christian superstars who jam the airwaves are not the answer for a move of God. We need those who will walk in humility, cry aloud and rend their hearts so that God will receive the glory He alone is due.

it's from this post, a great post to read

https://www.sermonindex.net/modules/newbb/viewtopic.php?viewmode=flat&order=0&topic_id=37611&forum=34&post_id=&refresh=Go

D

DEADn Feb 22, 2011

I would also go to say that include many of those who may call themselves christians as well. Many times we as believers marvel at how cold people tend to be in hearts but before we are astonished we need to look at the church and ourselves. Those from the church are usually the ones who show the most cold heartedness. I believe this is for several reasons.

1)Denominational foundations tend to play a role in attitude.
(ie, hardshell baptist)
2)lack of meaningful prayer time.
3)Christians don't know how to love. Only spread accusations of people going to hell and say Jesus love you in the same breath.
4)Some christians lack understanding about the nature of (God's)love and instead turn on a 'religious' mindset. One their buttons are pushed the soul takes over immediately.

Whenever it comes to cold hearts and hard hearts I always look at the church first because if the church is the same way we have no business going to the world.
Make sense?
I say this because of my irritations of the past with many christians which eventually caused me to committ spiritual suicide at one point.

L

linda7 Feb 22, 2011

Hi rainydaygirl, I thoroughly see what you see, here in England and here we have terrible swearing in the town and mothers screaming at their children. There is total lack of respect and this is exhibited on the airwaves also. I have been back in my homeland 10 years now and I have seen the change in people's attitudes. We used to be known for our politeness, but not any more. I truly believe it is a sign of the times.

sermonindex Feb 24, 2011

1)Denominational foundations tend to play a role in attitude. (ie, hardshell baptist) 2)lack of meaningful prayer time. 3)Christians don't know how to love. Only spread accusations of people going to hell and say Jesus love you in the same breath. 4)Some christians lack understanding about the nature of (God's)love and instead turn on a 'religious' mindset. One their buttons are pushed the soul takes over immediately. Whenever it comes to cold hearts and hard hearts I always look at the church first because if the church is the same way we have no business going to the world. Make sense? I say this because of my irritations of the past with many christians which eventually caused me to committ spiritual suicide at one point.

Agreed. I think #3 and #4 goes hand in hand. I have trouble with #4 which directly translates to #3. And we can have a harsh view of God and his love towards us because of how harsh the gospels and other parts of the bible can sound. That's why many times, I have "misplaced zeal" which you can't really blame me for because this is what I was taught from all my years of religious churchianity and I didn't know better. I'm starting to do my own reading of the bible and trying to really understand who God is to become a true berean.

BUT ITS A SLOW, LONG, PROCESS and my view of God's love is not gonna change overnight, hopefully it will.

J

jimp Feb 25, 2011

hi, men shall be lovers of themselves...the root of all rudeness... if you and i would consider others first we would be kind... if you and i would consider how much error the Holy Spirit has walked us thru we would be more generous..if you or i consider how much God has forgiven in our lives we would be more patient and forgiving.jimp

G

ginnyrose Feb 25, 2011

edg,

I looked on your profile trying to determine where you live but did not learn anything there.

It has been my observation that people in the north tend to be ruder then in the south. I live in MS, the state that still has a Miss Hospitality contest every year, or at least they did not so long ago.

The rudeness I see occurs when mothers scream at their unruly children, most often seen at Wal-Mart. Or, they allow their children to yell, scream unrestrained.

On the personal level, I work to be courteous to any and all. Give them a genuine smile from the heart - don't wear a one-size-fits-all pasted smile on your face: this is fake. When someone opens the door for you, thank them. The other day as I was entering a restaurant in a nearby city there was a 30ish YO black male nearby speaking on his cell phone. When he saw me - a white lady - come, he hurried over to open the door for me. I smiled and thanked him. He smiled back and said "Chivalry is not dead yet!" I loved that! don't you?

Last week a stranger (to me - do not know near all of our customers) came to our store. She commented on the honorary system we occasionally use to sell tomatoes. She thought this gesture towards the American public was awesome, the fact that we trust people to leave money voluntarily for the tomatoes they pick up. She got choked up about it! and I thought it was us who were the greatest benefactors. Anyways, this system spoke to her heart...But then, I tell people we have the nicest customers in the world. And we do.

RDG, maybe you need to live a while in our neck of the woods ....:-) Although I agree people are getting more calloused to sin. :-(

I agree, the rudeness you witnessed is tragic. It seems as though many who have an entitlement mentality seem to be the rudest, the least grateful. Just my opinion.

Now you have a wonderful day....and see if you cannot bring a smile to the faces of those you meet.

T

TrueRevival Mar 2, 2011

so what does Jesus ask us to do here? How can we apply what we know from this thread in our lives?

Y

Yeshuasboy Mar 3, 2011

I love it that God gives His children an eye that sees inward. Christians will be persecuted. If one really is offended @ the harshness & rudeness of people in general, then how much more will they be offended when people are rude to them. God is sovereign & is merciful to the just & the unjust; should not His children be the same? I think, these things try us & test our faith, as so we can see what comes out, or what wrath is stirred in us when we see these things take place, that we may fly to Christ & humble ourselves.

sermonindex Mar 3, 2011

You know, i learned just how much people long to hear someone BLESS them. I myself was only cursed and beaten by my parents when growing up, and had never once heard them bless me.Then one day before Christmas, after my dad had died, I was walking thru the parking lot at work and this homeless elderly man walking thru the lot said "God bless you" to me as he passed by. My how it comforted my heart! I was over 40 years old before i heard a man bless me! That man was a believer in Jesus Christ and homeless at 75 years old. We became friends.
He always says "God bless you" to everyone he meets.

Then one day he passed by a coworker friend of mine and said the same thing to him. My coworker later told me about it and mentioned how much it meant to HIM to hear it.

The world has grown SO cold and So uncaring that the words "God bless you" have become like gold to the ears of the world. Such easy, simple words, yet somehow so hard to say sometimes. Most people come from dysfunctional families these days (except for church people- they all seem to be from content middle class families) and few get to hear a kind or nurturing word.