Thursday Thoughts on... People without a filter

The other morning I caught a snippit of something on TV. A woman said, "Well, that's just how I am. I'm going to say what I think. I don't have a filter. They should know that." The person she was speaking to said something like "Well, maybe you could consider the other person's feelings and not be so harsh," to which the first woman replied, "I just tell it like it is. If they can't take it, that's their problem."

I know people like this. I would guess that you probably do too. I know people like this who profess to be Christians, who say that they love and follow Jesus. I've bounced this around in my head for days. There is something about the whole "tell it like it is" mentality that simply doesn't settle well with me.

When we become Christians, we are given the Fruit of the Spirit.
Agree?
Good.
No?
Okay, well check out Galatians 5 and we can discuss.


Assuming we are on the same page with the whole Fruit of the Spirit gift, I want to pose a question...

If the Fruit is GIVEN to us when we accept Christ, what would cause us to not have a character and personality that would be described by said fruit?

This is how a Christian's character is described....

Love

Joy

Peace

Patience

Kindness

Goodness

Faithfulness

Gentleness

Self Control

So...

Being born again in Christ gives us the ability to think, behave, and speak differently... unless we choose not to.

All that being said, I can only think of 2 reasons why a person professing to be a Christian would embrace and even take pride in "telling it like it is" or having "no filter" or justifying hurting others by "just saying what I think" rather than taking time to exhibit the self control needed to stop and consider another's point of view, circumstances, and feelings:

One would be that said Christian is quenching the Holy Spirit in his/her life.

The other would be that said Christian is not actually a Christian at all and is unable to behave/speak/act in a Christ-like manner because Christ is not in him/her.

I try to see things from all sides. Of course that isn't always possible. I fail often.  I thank God for insight and discernment. It reminds me to show grace, to be kind, and to practice self-control in dealing with others. Hopefully, in doing so, I continually look a little more like Jesus and a little less like "the world."


Just my thoughts
K