The Mirror of the Word and other works by C.E. White can be purchased on her website, cewhitebooks.com or on Amazon

“But a natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned.”

—1 Corinthians 2:14

We do well to remember this when we’re talking to unbelievers. Whether we’re witnessing to them or talking about sin, we can speak the truth, but they may not be able to receive it.

Raising our voices in anger won’t help. Calling them names won’t help. Acting in an un–Christlike manner won’t help.

We look to Jesus for our example. He spoke truth and gave evidence from the Word, but he didn’t try to convince or persuade. He didn’t engage in pointless debates when people asked trick questions designed to expose some flaw in his teaching.

To those who could not hear, he simply told the truth and moved on. He planted a seed with love.

This verse also helps us with those people we love who we long to see come to Christ. It reminds us that their souls are not our burden to carry. We do what we can—love them, tell the truth, be examples, and pray for them—but the battle for their soul is the Lord’s. They may not yet be in a spiritual place to hear that truth.

We tell it to them as many times as the Lord prompts, but it isn’t in our power to make them hear it. We may speak the truth eloquently and perfectly, and they may still not come to the Lord.

Many people couldn’t hear truth from the mouth of Jesus himself. Some will certainly reject it from us.

We tell the truth in love and move on, leaving the rest to the Holy Spirit.

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