I find it so amazing how life events heavily shape our perceptions and opinions, almost to the point where you could come across as “I too know” which is a slang for someone who thinks they know all there is to know about something.

When my dad suffered a stroke a couple of years ago, a huge factor to its causation was his feeding habit, throughout his life, he was by Gods grace a healthy man, scarcely or never needing medical attention, and maybe he took that to mean correlation; that he could ride on that wave without making better health choices, until the day came, when he suffered a hemorrhagic stroke. A phase of life I can never forget too quickly.

As a result of that, I became very intentional with feeding and what goes in and on my body. It’s amazing how the overall functioning of the body is a collective effort of all parts of it, so to neglect one and take care of the other will still leave you at risk and in error, so while paying attention to what goes in, I also became interested in what goes on, which is how I found how dangerous retinol (a popular excellent skin additive is to a growing foetus, and shouldn’t be taken by pregnant women).

Because of how much I’ve read of stroke, feeding habits and general body health over the years, I can get very passionate when talking to another person I’ve noticed has a lapse in their feeding habit or general health habits.

I found that my argument on this matter was often from a combination of trauma and knowledge, rather than from knowledge alone.

The difference with the two is quite wide but not that obvious; arguments from knowledge come with options and information without fear, arguments from trauma plus knowledge come with restriction, limits and a lot of fear.

So instead of telling people “don’t eat this, or eat it in very small quantities”, I’ll paint the picture of the worst case scenario and allow you decide the better option in fear of the worst case scenario.

My aim will often be accomplished, but at the detriment of another’s full and complete knowledge.

While the Holy Spirit pointed this out to me a few days ago, He also said that people do this a lot with bible teachings and doctrines too. Rather than teach the word in a desire to equip the listeners, they teach it with trauma mixed with the knowledge, and so listeners align with your presented option, but at the cost of a thorough understanding of all that is.

So I’m learning to check my opinions and suggestions, especially when they come rather strongly, that they’re coming from pure knowledge and with the intention to equip, rather than from trauma, with a desire to impose.

Joshua teaches us this approach to teaching doctrine too, even to the people closest to us, he presented life and death and asked that they “Choose this day whom they’ll serve”.

If God loved us enough to allow us choose, we cannot think we love people more than God does to take that choice away from them by the way we present our arguments, teachings and doctrines.

We’re in error to think we’re helping the people in question, but truly what it is when we do this is manipulation. We must trust God enough to do His work through us and people alike by presenting them with the full gospel and allowing them choose. We can’t deny them choice, impose our beliefs and doctrines on them and then call them hypocritical when they fail at legalism.

What makes any man stand up and try again and again in his faith is the choice to, if he decides to come in the first place, he’ll also decide to keep coming until the perfect day.

A daily truth I’ve had to remind myself; I cannot love people more than God does. This truth helps me keep everything in perspective, takes the pressure off me to try to convince and keeps the focus on the Holy Spirit who does the conviction.

Conviction > Compulsion.