When we face these difficult scenarios, it should help us to remember that others before us have faced the same woes. In fact, when we ‘hit a wall’ while trying to convert the lost or restore the erring, we are joining the good company of God’s faithful servants through the ages. Their words certainly strike a familiar chord:<\/p>\n
“The wicked, through the pride of his countenance, will not seek after God: God is not in all his thoughts<\/em>” (Psalms 10:4).<\/p>\n“…\u00a0they have refused to receive correction: they have made their faces harder than a rock; they have refused to return<\/em>” (Jeremiah 5:3).<\/p>\n“Yea, they made their hearts as an adamant stone, lest they should hear the law, and the words which the Lord of hosts hath sent …<\/em>” (Zechariah 7:12).<\/p>\n“Ye stiffnecked and uncircum\u00adcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost: as your fathers did, so do ye<\/em>” (Acts 7:51).<\/p>\n“But after thy hardness and impenitent heart treasurest up unto thyself wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God<\/em>” (Romans 2:5).<\/p><\/blockquote>\nSo, you see, your frustrations at being unable to change the ways of unrepentant folks are not new. Others have endured the same things. The key thing is for us to stay committed to our task of faithfully serving God. “. . . be ye steadfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord<\/em>” (I Corinthians 15:58)<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"by Greg Gwin via The Beacon 9\/29\/2009 Are you discouraged because you can’t get someone to change? Maybe you’ve worked long and hard to teach someone what they should do to be saved, but they simply won’t accept it. It’s clear to you and to them that there are things amiss in their life, but…<\/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":[27],"tags":[536,50,451],"class_list":["post-55779","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-preaching","tag-repentance","tag-teaching"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":49538,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/does-the-church-curse-an-erring-brother-when-withdrawing-from-him\/","url_meta":{"origin":55779,"position":0},"title":"Does the church curse an erring brother when withdrawing from him?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 1, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Does the church curse an erring member in the cause of the withdrawal of fellowship, according to I Corinthians 16:22? Answer: \"If anyone does not love the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be accursed. O Lord, come!\" (I Corinthians 16:22). The Greek\u00a0anathema, translated here as \"accursed,\" is defined by\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":54346,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/how-do-we-deal-with-erring-brethren\/","url_meta":{"origin":55779,"position":1},"title":"How do we deal with erring brethren?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 30, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I'm looking for clarity on \"liberal church associations.\" If I'm a conservative (non-institutional) brother, am I to fellowship with those who worship in a liberal church? Here is my view and please correct me if I'm in error. As a Christian, I believe that outside of a worship setting\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":91141,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/when-to-exercise-church-discipline\/","url_meta":{"origin":55779,"position":2},"title":"When to Exercise Church Discipline","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 9, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Kyle Ellison The question of when to exercise church discipline is both agonizing and grueling, one that elders and members must grapple with from time to time. Elders feel the weight of this without a doubt, since they are charged with watching for the souls of those under their\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":3177,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/are-there-exceptions-to-withdrawal\/","url_meta":{"origin":55779,"position":3},"title":"Are there exceptions to withdrawal?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 11, 2005","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I have been studying the issue of fellowship within the family. In other words, I have family who are erring brethren and walk not as God has commanded. In accordance with I Corinthians 5 and other verses which say \"not even to eat,\" are there guidelines or principles for\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":60933,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/whats-the-weather-should-we-observe-lent\/","url_meta":{"origin":55779,"position":4},"title":"What\u2019s the Weather? Should We Observe Lent?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"May 28, 2005","format":false,"excerpt":"by Steve A. Hamilton The television weatherman was forecasting a big snow. I happen to like snow. The news of snow was exciting to me. I turned the television station to another network to see what they were forecasting. That station was forecasting a small amount of snow. That wasn't\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":33022,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-wisdom-of-winning-souls\/","url_meta":{"origin":55779,"position":5},"title":"The Wisdom of Winning Souls","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 6, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"by Charles N. Spence, Jr. Sentry Magazine, December 2000 and March 2001 \"The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, and he who wins souls is wise\" (Proverbs 11:30). How does winning souls demonstrate wisdom? When Christians involve themselves in this task, they understand that they are doing\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Tree-300x222.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55779","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=55779"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55779\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=55779"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=55779"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=55779"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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Are you discouraged because you can’t get someone to change? Maybe you’ve worked long and hard to teach someone what they should do to be saved, but they simply won’t accept it. It’s clear to you and to them that there are things amiss in their life, but they just won’t commit to doing what is right. Or, it might be some erring brother in the church. You have struggled to convince him that he has sinned and needs to repent, but he steadfastly refuses to admit his sin and turn back to God. Surely, these are discouraging situations.<\/p>\n