1. Joseph, son of Jacob was arrogant. No where do we read that he was, could have been. Him telling his dreams to his brothers doesn’t prove arrogance, shows naiveness at most by the text alone. Anything else is speculation.
2. Jesus was ugly (Isaiah 53:2-3). No where we read the word “ugly” to describe Jesus. At most we can interpret He didn’t look like society’s “standard of top model”, but this doesn’t mean He was “ugly”. Hmm. Even in Genesis 29:17 Leah is not described with the word “ugly”.
3. Jesus was homeless. No. Having no place to rest your head doesn’t equal homelessness. Just goes to show how busy He was in ministry. Constantly on the go. Harvest plentiful and laborers few.
4. Sodom and Gomorra was destroyed because of homosexuality. No. They were destroyed for their utter depravity, which included homosexual sin.
5. God doesn’t give us more than we can bear. No. He doesn’t allow us to be tempted beyond what we can bear. (1 Corinthians 10:13) But surely we have trials beyond what we can bear, so we rely on Him. (2 Corinthians 12:9, Psalm 121)
6. Christians should not be wealthy. No. Just no. Read Deuteronomy 28.
7. Christians should always be wealthy. No. Just no. Read the account of Lazarus. What we ought to be is content in what we have (Hebrews 13:5), expecting God’s best always and seeking Him first. And in such right motives, we receive the promise of Matthew 6:33.
8. Striving for excellence is legalism or works based salvation. No. We are to bear fruit in keeping with repentance (Matthew 3:8). We don’t attempt to be good in all things to attain righteousness. We have that through Christ alone. But we should strive for it to keep doors to the demonic closed in our lives. We must give no place to the devil. Plus, Jesus said, if we love Him, keep His commandments. Could that be any clearer? I think not. And truly it is peaceful to obey, even if things in our lives are hard, the peace obedience brings is amazing. Why add to our sorrows by willful disobedience? Let’s not.
9. If we have truly forgiven, we should forget. No. We forgive, but we actually don’t forget. When God forgets, doesn’t mean He has lost His memory on the matter. It means He doesn’t impute those wrongs on us anymore, as if forgotten. Anyhow, forgiving someone doesn’t mean we will automatically forget. Forgetting where it relates to humans has to do with trust. And trust is built through repentance and active actions towards such repentance. It is then a human “forgets” when the trust is rebuilt. Memory is still there, just no longer a barrier in a fully flourishing relationship.