Have you ever seen a whipped puppy? It is cowering and afraid, snappy and very untrusting of everyone. In the name of training, or possibly just plain cruelty, it was beaten and developed a leave-me-alone-and-let-me-hide-in-a-corner attitude. No amount of instruction will change a whipped puppy. It will only take the instruction as another kind of whipping. What the whipped puppy needs is love and assurance so that it can, over time, build trust in the one or ones who love it. Then, and only then, will instruction help the whipped puppy. We have "whipped puppy" Christians in the church. When they have a struggle, we instruct them as to what they should be doing or what attitude they should have. To them this is just another kind of whipping. They aren't ready for instruction because they lack the trust to receive it. They have been beaten enough that even a loving touch can feel like a hit or a slap. We need to slowly love them and keep them assured of our love (and God's love) until they can trust enough to receive some instruction. In short, we are to let God's love flow through us so His instruction will be received and not rejected because of the feeling that it is just another "beating".