Some people can be friendly at an online poker game. Others seem to role-play as the exact opposite. We're giving that benefit of the doubt to someone we encountered at National League of Poker the other day -- a man who was calling players he beat "loooooosers" and sounding like quite the bully. An excerpt from the chat:
junkmanisin: the names are not needed brock if U cant say nothing nice then say nothing at all....
BROCKwarrior: that advice is for sissies
BROCKwarrior: a real man sais what he thinks
Do you agree with that statement ("says" being misspelled)? Some poker stars on TV seem to do that often; the name Hellmuth comes to mind. But when we read this, a scripture came to our mind:
Me: Well.... to a point.
Me: I read once you should speak the truth in love.
That phrase is in Ephesians 4:15. "Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ."
It's one thing to merely speak the truth. People can do that in a mean-spirited and attacking way -- whether in evaluating poker hands or telling off their spouses. But Paul adds the words in love to show where our heart should be. The modern-day term for it is "constructive criticism" -- to lift up and not beat down.
Paul writes elsewhere concerning people's spiritual gifts: "If it is encouraging, let him encourage.... if it is showing mercy, let him do it cheerfully." (Romans 12:8) Maybe this is a gift you can show someone at the table. Ask God to reveal the gifts He's given you.
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