All of our cars have some flex in their undercarriage. Not because any municipality sets out to make a bad road, but because wear, tear, and weather make roads bad. It’s so common to find a rough spot that our vehicles are designed to accommodate them. The truth is roads aren’t the only place we can find imperfection. If we look hard enough, we can find fault with our neighbor’s lawn, our friend’s laugh, our brother’s parenting style, our churches carpet selection; the list goes on. I don’t even need to have a gift for it, criticism and fault finding is easy. In fact, if I put my mind to it, I can disparage anyone or anything. The Triune God is the ONLY perfect being in the universe and I bet if we took a poll 50% of respondents would take issue with His choices!
Let’s choose to be different. Let’s stop doing the easy thing, the natural thing. Let’s let our conversation be seasoned with salt, giving grace to all who hear (Col 4:6). Let’s make sure our words are edifying, not destructive (Eph 4:29). And let’s see if we can make the Golden rule apply to our words and our thoughts, even as we do our actions. It’s too easy, at least for me, to gripe or complain to a brother about a brother, which is just makes me a gossip (literally a terrorist – James 3:5-6). So, just as we teach our children, I – and perhaps many of my readers – need to learn again, to tell my troubles to God, and speak words of encouragement to others!*
Grace and Peace,
Pastor Scott
*Of course there are times when an individual can benefit from reproof, correction, or instruction, but speaking with the individual is more helpful than speaking about the individual. 🙂
Grace Notes 