- First, I thought of those who made cutting remarks towards me in the past.
- Second, I thought how thankful I am for those who listened to God and brought words of healing when I needed it.
- Third, I thought of times when I have said cutting remarks to others
- Fourth, I thought of the times when I brought words of healing to others.
We are not always wise and use wisdom. We know what is right and wrong but sometimes we don’t use wisdom to guide us to the right choice. Sometimes we don’t always listen and obey what the Spirit of God tells us.
Our own flesh seems to battle within us at times with our soul and what the Spirit of God is telling us.
As long as we are living in these bodies we are going to have battles taking place within us. We are human and as humans we have to make choices- choices of right and wrong, love and hate, faithfulness and unfaithfulness and so on but in order to make the right choices and recover from the bad choices we need Christ. Even the choices that seem pretty easy, we need God’s guidance and grace on helping us to come to the right decision. Have you ever made a choice, which you thought was a pretty easy decision to find that you got yourself in a whole lot of trouble afterward?
God is the only one who knows what is in store for tomorrow and even in next few minutes.
We need to lean heavily on Christ – sometimes more heavily then other times.
I have learned that no matter what- there won’t be a single person in this world that fully understands you but God does. There will be times even when your spouse or best "human" friend doesn’t understand you but God will.
Proverbs 14:10 “Each hearts knows its own bitterness, and no one can fully share its joy.”
Does God get disappointed when you make a wrong choice? Is a parent disappointed when their child makes a bad choice? I am sure God is disappointed but unlike a human parent, God knew of your bad choice before you even made it. And like a great parent who loves his/her children, God always has some consequence for the wrong or poor choice made by the child.
And not all consequences need to be negative because just as there are negative consequences for poor and bad choices there are positive consequences for good and loving choices as well.
“Some people make cutting remarks, but the words of the wise bring healing.”
Many times we have Godly knowledge but we miss use it and we use God’s words improperly on people and it can cut them like a knife if not done in love and directed by the Holy Spirit. It can do more damage then good. It’s like you having God’s surgical tools but doing the surgery without God’s help. The Holy Spirit directs you to true wisdom.
God is the surgeon, not us. God knows exactly what the person is going through. God has walked beside that person through their life and in trial after trial. He has spoken to them in some form or fashion everyday of their life. He has heard their prayers and knows what is inside that person’s heart not you or I.
Sometimes God is doing some great work in a person’s life and it only takes one person to come along with a log in their eye and tip-over, knockdown, smash what God is doing in their life -at that moment. Instead of encouraging them, they knock them down again.
That person maybe just getting back off the ground when someone, decides it would be a fine time to find their foot in mouth. And a result will push that poor soul back to the floor again with their words. That pour soul has already been wresting with their own pride and/or understanding – they don’t need you or I to add the weight of our words to their load or struggle. I don’t know about you but when I am struggling and someone knows and sees me struggling and says something right off the top of their head without guidance from God.” It can be like a knife or a fist to the gut.
And what always seems to make situation worse is when people seem to think, sense the words they speak come from the word of God, then they are being helpful in their “so-called righteous way” but they forget God’s word is knife.
Hebrews 4:12-13 For the word of God is full of living power. It is sharper than the sharpest knife, cutting deep into our innermost thoughts and desires. It exposes us for what we really are. Nothing in all creation can hide from him. Everything is naked and exposed before his eyes. This is the God to whom we must explain all that we have done.”
Are we God? Did God appoint or tell you or I to use those words or was it us in our little minds trying to be tricky, skillful and clever? Were they said “in love” or to make “our point” or to get “our point across”? God is the heart surgeon not us and when we try to act like the heart surgeon on someone -we are only making a bigger mess.
You would never take the surgical tools out of the surgeon’s hand as he is doing open-heart surgery… So why do that with God’s words? The surgeon knows what is wrong with the heart and knows what needs mending but we are no surgeon and certainly not God.
God’s words in the wrong hands and in the wrong state of mind can be very destructive. Just plain words in themselves can be heavy enough and hurtful enough but add God’s words and they can be destructive if not guided and directed by God. Sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me. I don’t know one person where words haven’t hurt them in their lifetime.
Jesus said in Luke 4:18-19 "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, for he has appointed me to preach Good News to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim that captives will be released, that the blind will see, that the downtrodden will be freed from their oppressors, and that the time of the Lord's favor has come.”
God gives us appointed times to share and speak a word. The Holy Spirit needs to direct our words or else our words will have the same or worse affect on those who already oppress them.
Not saying we should sugar coat the truth. The truth doesn’t need to be sugar coated because it is already sweet for those who need to hear it but we need to make sure we are in the right Spirit before we speak it. Are we speaking it in fruits of Spirit or from some human understanding? Are you speaking in love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control or the ways of the world? Galatians 5:22
Sometimes we perceive things that aren’t actually fact but because we perceive things as “fact” we assume they are true. Assumption is not true knowledge or wisdom. It is based on partial visual perceptions, partial heard words, partial heard gossip, previous experiences, previous hurts, pride and fear and is very often passed around as fact. Assumption can be based on hostility, jealousy, selfish ambition, divisions, envy and so on.
“Pride leads to disgrace, but with humility comes wisdom.” Proverbs 11:2
Remember God is the only one who truly knows what is going on inside the heart and head of individual. And if God gave you some insight on someone, don’t open your mouth unless God has told you to talk to him or her. Sometimes God allows us a piece of insight so we may pray for that person or situation -not talk to that person about that situation.
God always prepares the person you are to talk to before you talk to them. I personally cannot think of a time when God hasn’t prepared a way for someone to speak to me in the past and I would say that “most” of the time I have received him or her well. Their words or comments haven’t just come out of left field … I had either asked God to intervene, help or for encouragement. On the same note, there have been times God had “already” been talking to me about some circumstances in my life that I had been failing to address and/or correct.
The truth is not always easy to hear but the usually truth has already been forwarded to you in several different ways by God before he had to resort to human lips.
There have been times in my life where God had told me in some form or fashion to address a situation in my life but I chose to ignore it. You can’t ignore God and claim to be his child. You will either address the situation with God privately or he will have to resort to go publicly. (Think of Jonah and David) God loves his children. If he didn’t love his children he wouldn’t have to discipline them.
I would like to say that all the people God sends speak in love not judgment but God sends his prophets to speak his judgments upon the people too.
If God sends someone to you in love – feel privileged. Often God uses people who have fallen into the same or similar traps or situations you have found yourself in. Their message is meaningful and powerful and often helps you come to repentance, healing and encouragement in the Lord.
When people come and speak scripture and spiritual truths, it needs to be backed up with power of the Holy Spirit (fruits of the Spirit)–which gives full assurance of what said is true. A great example of this is mentioned in 1 Thessalonians 1:5 when the disciples talked about sharing the Good News with the church of Thessalonica. Their testimony and words were powerful because the Holy Spirit directed and guided the words and actions of Paul, Silas and Timothy.
Cutting remarks that leave you wounded “again” -after you have already been made of aware of you failures by the Holy Spirit and understanding are not of God. They are usually spout out without warning and little care.
“The words of the wicked are like a murderous ambush, but the words of the godly save lives,” Proverbs 12:6
Sometimes our own brothers and sisters in Christ can have the same affect on us. You know how that is? You are just beginning to heal, you are still tender and someone unexpectedly points out your failure again instead of letting it go. What they say is like a murderous ambush and all you can do is quietly bleed from their words and then go home. Assumption can do the same thing.
I believe we all should be humble and need to be humbled from time to time in our lives but God needs to be one to do that, not a sibling in Christ. God is the best one to humble a person because his humbling is perfect and exactly the measure needed to bring one to repentance and growing in maturity in Christ.
Sure it hurts when a brother or sisters says something but we must forgive them (even when they are off base) and in the end will be in a better state of mind for doing so. Thank God he understands. Thank God he brings wisdom. Thank God he brings others who bring words of healing.
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