Love does not insist/demand its own way
1 Corinthians 13:5
This is other side of the coin of rudeness. Rudeness runs over other people’s sensitivities and customs, while this self-seeking demands that other people adapt to our own sensitivities and customs. The beauty of social media is that it has the ability to represent vast quantities of views, customs, and cultures. These each tend to segregate into their own circles. But when those circles collide, as they inevitably do, do we demand that other people treat us and our view with preference? If we perceive that someone is being rude to our views or environment, do we reprimand them because they are not “like us,” don’t talk like us, or don’t share our opinions? This is a temptation to all groups. Even groups which pride themselves on diversity are often vehemently intolerant of those they perceive as intolerant. Intolerance typically comes from this kind of self-seeking, demanding and insisting our own way. It’s okay to let people have their own opinion, even when you disagree. It’s okay to let people have their own way of saying things, even if it’s not the way you would say it. We are allowed to stress and uphold what we believe is right without demanding that other people think the way we do or conform to our decisions. Wherein we have authority to set rules, we set the rules we believe are right and honorable. But the decision to act in conformity with rules is their decision to make. Don’t rob people of their capacity to make decisions or voice their opinions. The unfortunate times of disfellowship, unfollowing, unfriending, booting from groups, etc should be in the offenders ball-court. Such cases are fair administration of the rules of relationship which we communicate ahead of time. As far as it depends on us, we want to seek peace, even with opposing views.
Next: Irritability