Bible Study: Choosing to not defend ourselves

Romans 15:3

Psalm 69:6-15

Maria and Reese 2011

Have you ever gotten up in the morning upset at someone because of a dream you had during the night? How unfair when that person had no input into how he/she acted in your dream! And yet our feelings linger, forcing us to choose either injustice or relating to that individual in a way we don't feel like relating.
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Our response to unjust accusations passes through a similar process. We can follow our instinct to defend ourselves or we can swallow our feelings of pride and accept the accusations as if they were true. When others claim that Christians are overwhelmingly hypocritical, how will we answer? When statistics suggest very little or no difference between us and the world in our morals, will we respond defensively? When Christ Himself is attacked and we stand to lose out quite a bit by associating with Him, how will that influence our relationship with Him?
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While there are certainly times when it is appropriate to stand up for the truth and oppose the false accusations, there are other instances when we would do better by not defending ourselves and letting our actions eventually prove the accusers wrong. Actions can indeed speak louder than words. Sometimes the accuser will not be convinced without seeing us live out what we believe rather than live out something they expect from us. So we choose to do what is right: to love, to serve, to live according to the call of Christ, and allow our lives to witness to the truth rather than spending our time arguing against the lies thrown at us.