I also learned very quickly that they didn't mean that at all. I'm afraid it's the same when a friend says something like "I want you to tell me if I do something that _________ (fill in the blank with actions that are mean, tacky, sinful, unfriendly, etc. that you've heard from a friend - or said yourself)
Your friend doesn't mean it either. Neither do you when you say it.
If only we could say this to God and mean it.
"5 Let the righteous smite me in kindness and reprove me; It is oil upon the head ; Do not let my head refuse it,"
Each of us needs a godly friend to kindly reprove when we are going down a wrong path, acting in an ungodly way, turning our back on God or family or friends, you get the idea. And each of us needs to then accept correction from our friend. Pride, resentment, sin, arrogance, foolishness and other things prevent us from taking to heart reproof from a righteous person.
To have this kind of relationship with someone requires work on your part. You have to build a friendship of trust, respect, and love. You have to pray for each other. You have to speak the truth with grace.
If you don't have someone in your life who can "smite you in kindness and reprove" you let me encourage you to 1. ask God to help you be that kind of friend and send you that kind of friend, 2. work on being righteous yourself, so you can be in a position to offer godly reproof, 3. don't "smite" someone in kindness unless you have their very best interest at heart and have taken the log out of your own eye, 4. don't lash out at your friend who is reproving you, but take their words to heart and see what God may be trying to say to you
Those are just the thoughts right off the top of my head - well, I hope they are encouraging words from God. What do you think?
I know I could have easily written a lot about verse 3 using verses from James about controlling the tongue. You can write your own post to your self about that. :-)
1 comment:
Several years ago, I had two close friends who would be joining me on a vacation back home (both friends knew my family well). I know that at times I can get, shall we say, tense, and I wanted to enjoy the vacation, and enjoy seeing my family again. In a very heartfelt way, I asked both my friends (and my older sister) to just say a "key word" if they thought I was getting testy.
Rather than help, they turned it into a game to constantly throw it at me, no matter what the situation, which made me upset. Yes, I would like to have my attitude checked by people who really are trying to help me, but even thinking of that situation now, it causes me pain. After that "vacation" I told both friends and my sister that apparently I was just a terror to get along with, and I would not impose my presence on them until I could be a better person....
I will say that my husband knows me well enough to point out for me my issues, in a way that is constructive. I thank God I have Jerry to rely on, and hope/pray that God can use His Spirit within me to point out when I am not pleasing God.
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