There’s a friend I have who was recently baptized.\u00a0He was taught about baptism, and we left him alone, and he eventually made the choice without any pushing of any sort.<\/p>\n
He knows cursing is wrong, and he doesn’t curse around me.\u00a0Well, he does euphemistically.\u00a0 But that’s a huge improvement from what he used to be like.\u00a0Anyway, he continues to curse on his Facebook and he continues to like pages that are about marijuana use.<\/p>\n
I know as a new convert it took me a while for a lot of things to sink in and truly understand how I should be acting like a child of God.\u00a0 So I guess my question is, would it be better to wait and see if he makes the changes on his own, or should I bring this to his attention now?\u00a0 What do you think?<\/p>\n\t
Leaving problems alone doesn’t get them fixed. But I would like to suggest that you look at this particular problem in a different way. His use of profanity and possible use of marijuana indicates that he is missing some foundational ideas and those gaps need to be filled in. Once there, the symptoms you are seeing will disappear.<\/p>\n
Therefore, instead of approaching him with “cursing is bad,” study with him about why some words are good and others are bad. See\u00a0Careful What You Say<\/a>\u00a0as a possible approach. Or move back even further and study with him about why God said not to take His name in vain or how we honor God. See\u00a0You Shall Not Take the Name of God in Vain<\/a>\u00a0as an example. This isn’t all you talk with him about, but rather one of the topics you cover.<\/p>\n The same goes for marijuana. Study with him about the need for Christians to be sober because of our battle against Satan. Mention how alcohol, drugs, and even marijuana, impair a person’s ability to make good judgments.<\/p>\n When you see a gap in someone’s wall of protection, look first to see what is missing in the foundations and then build them up from there. Usually, they’ll fix the more noticeable problems on their own once the foundations are properly in place.<\/p>\n Sometimes the foundations are there, but a person hasn’t made the connection yet. A gentle question of “Why are these words acceptable on Facebook but not in church?” may get a person thinking in the right direction. And if not, you may be surprised at how the person is able to justify to himself different behaviors in church and in the world, which then will lead to study about this unusual style of reasoning.<\/p>\n “But avoid foolish and ignorant disputes, knowing that they generate strife. And a servant of the Lord must not quarrel but be gentle to all,\u00a0able to teach<\/strong>, patient, in humility correcting those who are in opposition, if God perhaps will grant them repentance, so that they may know the truth, and that they may come to their senses and escape the snare of the devil, having been taken captive by him to do his will<\/em>” (II Timothy 2:23-26).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Question: There’s a friend I have who was recently baptized.\u00a0He was taught about baptism, and we left him alone, and he eventually made the choice without any pushing of any sort. He knows cursing is wrong, and he doesn’t curse around me.\u00a0Well, he does euphemistically.\u00a0 But that’s a huge improvement from what he used to…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[20],"tags":[1567,372,233,492,1598],"class_list":["post-35798","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-curses","tag-drugs","tag-friends","tag-profanity","tag-rebukes"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":68553,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/can-my-father-lay-a-curse-on-me\/","url_meta":{"origin":35798,"position":0},"title":"Can my father lay a curse on me?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 27, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Good evening, sir, I have a question.\u00a0I have obeyed my father, which is my responsibility as his son. He usually cared for the house, providing everything when my mum was alive. Now that my mum is dead, he no longer takes care of the family; two 17-year-old children are\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":7118,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/can-one-person-put-a-curse-on-another\/","url_meta":{"origin":35798,"position":1},"title":"Can one person put a curse on another?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 22, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: A friend asked me about someone putting curses on others and what does the Bible have to say about it?\u00a0 Could you share some thoughts in this regard?\u00a0 He feels like he is cursed by what his great-grandfather did years ago. 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