1 Corinthians 13:4-5 English Standard Version
4 Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant 5 or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful;
Becoming dull of hearing leads to being loud and proud and that affects how we love others. One sign is the insistence that comes with this spiritual affliction. We stop listening to sound counsel. There may be times when it feels like a shouting match.
Proverbs 15:4 English Standard Version (ESV) A gentle[healing] tongue is a tree of life, but perverseness in it breaks the spirit.
Note the secondary meaning of gentle here. It is in gentleness that speech brings healing to the soul whereas the loud and proud can only do harm.
1 Peter 3:4 English Standard Version (ESV) but let your adorning be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God’s sight is very precious.
We understand it is difficult to remain gentle and quiet in the spirit when someone is yelling at us but let us remember it is how we look to God that counts and not what others thinks of us. This may be an attitude which is created by the loud and proud, but it is illusionary. Pretentious can only be seen for what it is if it stands alone at the center of attention.
True humility will not be drawn into this battle of wills because God calls us to be humble not proud or arrogant. Being shouted down is unpleasant but it does not mean we are wrong.
Jesus Christ is not only the author and finisher of our faith, He is the defender of our faith also.
We do not have to be defensive. In the spirit that only shows weakness.
“But Jesus remained silent” Mat. 26:63a