After all these years of experience, handling so many challenges, weathering the many storms of life and still here to talk about it, you\u2019d think we should win every debate that comes our way. Case in point: My younger grandchildren have had their drivers\u2019 licenses for just a while but now they seem to be the experts about how to drive. It\u2019s hilarious. I don\u2019t want to debate them. I listen and smile.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Last week, my son and I drove to San Antonio for my grandson\u2019s baseball game. Ryan had several Zoom business calls, so I drove. That would have been a no-brainer, except that I had never driven a car like this one with more gizmos and bells and whistles than I was accustomed to. Ryan was distracted from his call when I would pssst him and he would have to show me how to work the GPS, adjust the side mirrors, as well as the cruise control. I wasn\u2019t about to argue with him because I didn\u2019t have a clue. That car was NOT in my wheelhouse OR my garage!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sometimes, I know I am wiser because I\u2019ve been around the block way more times than others, but what is the point? I’ve learned to relinquish my right to be right. It\u2019s not worth having to debate others. The idea for this blog post was born when I read Luke 5:1-5. In that passage, Peter, the apostle, provides the best way how to end arguments about our faith, and otherwise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Peter and his co-fishermen, Andrew, James, and John, had just returned from a very unproductive fishing expedition. They were the professionals at fishing. Jesus was a carpenter. Technically, Jesus should have offered Peter advice about building a boat NOT telling Peter and his crew how to fish. Instead, Jesus tells Peter, \u201cPut out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.” Peter gently reminds the King of the Universe who the \u201cprofessional\u201d fisherman is when he says: \u201cMaster, we toiled all night and took nothing.\u201d Oh, the look Jesus must have given Peter because the next words we read are Peter saying: \u201cBut at your word I will let down the nets.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Peter could have created an effective argument with Jesus. But Peter was aware of Who was telling him to get back in the boat. Peter\u2019s words should frame every faith argument we have in the future. We might see ourselves as the \u201cexperts\u201d in the conversation, but we aren\u2019t. Jesus is. The words that should guide ours are the same words Peter used: \u201cBut at your word I will\u201d believe, go, teach, obey, choose, surrender, submit.\u201d You get the point!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Arguing isn\u2019t my cup of tea, but lest my silence sounds like acceptance, I am exposing my mode of operation aka \u201colder and wiser\u201d wisdom. I don’t have to be right. And, I don\u2019t struggle with what the Bible says. I own it and do my best to follow it as my road map. Peter answered that question for us with his example. He told Jesus, \u201cBut at your word I will . . . .\u201d Peter was getting acquainted with THE TRUTH.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Peter\u2019s men went fishing again that day and caught so many fish their boats started to sink. Peter obeyed Jesus\u2019 words and was greatly blessed. All of us desire God\u2019s blessings, and God wants us to have them. The next time we argue with the wisdom of Scripture or become involved in someone else\u2019s argument with God\u2019s Word, because we know THE TRUTH like Peter did, we can lay down our right to be right. We just need to look to Jesus and say, \u201cBut at your word I will . . . .\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
After all these years of experience, handling so many challenges, weathering the many storms of life and still here to talk about it, you\u2019d think we should win every debate that comes our way. Case in point: My younger grandchildren have had their drivers\u2019 licenses for just a while but now they seem to be…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":14221,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[20092,15175,20457],"tags":[3389,17994,20455,20080,1210,12189,1769,15174,5743,1161,40,20453,20451,20452,20450,20454,1493,20449,20456],"class_list":["post-14220","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-being-right","category-debate","category-winning-argument","tag-argue","tag-argument","tag-at-your-word-i-will","tag-being-right","tag-blog","tag-carpenter","tag-christian","tag-debate","tag-fisherman","tag-gods-word","tag-inspiration","tag-let-down-nets","tag-luke-51-5","tag-peter-the-apostle","tag-relinquish-right-to-be-right","tag-sink","tag-wisdom","tag-wiser","tag-you-shall-know-the-truth"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14220","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=14220"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14220\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14224,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14220\/revisions\/14224"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/14221"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=14220"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=14220"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=14220"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}