Thread by @drdominee

John #Calvin on how to esteem and interact with others, Institutes 3.7.4 #AmTranslating

"So, every person, in flattering themselves, carries a sort of kingdom in their heart.

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Unduly attributing the things that they find pleasing to themselves, they criticize the character and habits of others. And if they get into a conflict, then their venom bursts out.

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Yes, many people put on a show of some gentleness as long as they find everything pleasant and congenial, but how few of them will maintain that same tone of moderation when they are annoyed and irritated?

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There is no other cure than to tear out from our innermost guts this most toxic plague that is the love of conflict and love of self (τῆς φιλονεικίας καὶ φιλαυτίας), just as the teaching of Scripture also tears it out.

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Thus, it instructs us to remember that those qualities that God has lavished on us are not our own goods, but free gifts of God. If anyone is prideful about these qualities, they betray their ingratitude.

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“Who is it who makes you more remarkable?” Paul says. “But if you have received all things, why do you boast as if they had not been given to you?” (1 Cor. 4:7).

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Let us, then, call ourselves back to humility through a continual examination of our faults. That way, nothing will remain in us to inflate our egos but there will be plenty of cause for self-abasement.

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Conversely, we are instructed to respect and admire the gifts of God that we observe in others such that we also honor the persons in whom they reside. After all, it would be tremendously shameless for us to deprive them of this honor that the Lord has granted them.

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On the contrary, we are taught to overlook their faults—not, of course, to encourage them with flattery, but to refrain from despising people due to such faults, people whom we ought to cherish with kindness and respect.

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In this way, the result will be that, whatever person with whom we interact, we will conduct ourselves not only with moderation and self-discipline but also with goodwill and friendliness.

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Thus, you can never attain true gentleness by any other route than by possessing a heart infused with the demotion of yourself and respect for others."

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