2 Timothy 2:23-26

"But foolish and unlearned questions avoid, knowing that they do gender strifes.
And the servant of the Lord must not strive; but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient,
In meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth;
And that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at his will."
2 Timothy 2:23-26


This is interesting to me in a lot of ways.  I wonder sometimes if these scriptures that I pick out just apply only to me, and you guys just read them because you are polite. :)  Anyway... the first verse hits me right away.  I think that I ask questions just to stir things up sometimes... especially at work.  I see something going on beneath the surface, and so I ask something that brings it out.  Unfortunately sometimes it is this volcanic emotional issue that I can't do anything about, and so all I have done is built the walls higher instead of helping the situation.  So I need to remember verse two... to be gentle and patient.  I am kind of bad at that sometimes.  I think that the part about "opposing themselves" is interesting... I think that is what we do when we go against God in anything.  We are his children, part of him is in us... and not only that, but we are going against who we were in the premortal existence.  I wonder if the veil *had* to be drawn just to get those valiant spirits to accept living in this society that can often be scary and offensive.  We oppose ourselves a lot.  But thankfully the scripture also talks about escaping the traps that Satan sets for us... and that even if we are trapped for a long time, we can still escape.