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THE WOUNDED HEART
A small girl came home crying. She told the mother that one of her classmates told her that her dad was a thief.(Her father who was working in a bank was just convicted of taking some money from the bank and was put in prison). This little refused to go to school any more. Not long after, she fell ill and was dying. She asked her mother to call for her dad who was still in prison. The father was brought to see her dying daughter. "Daddy, put your head near mind like you use to do," was her last word.
Do you know why she fell sick and died? Because someone spoke a word about her dad and caused a fatal wound in her heart!
Brothers and sisters! Mind your words.
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WHAT'S THIS?
Did you ever cried before?Did you ever scold somebody or did someone ever scolded you? Were you so angry with someone the other day? Have you had sleepless nights because someone did say something that you did not like? Did somebody hurt you yeasterday? Did you ever think of taking revenge before?
Well, I just want to tell you that at some points in our lives, our heart had been wounded, bruised or cut not by a knife,swords or sharp objects, but by some words being spoken by someone. The apostle James mentioned about our tongues as sharper than double edge swords. It is like a fire that can destroy or kill others!A person might not hurt someone with his hands, but he or she might do so with his or her tongue. We can hurt or kill someone spiritually by words spoken intentionally or unintentionally.
The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body.It corrupts the whole person,sets the whole course of his life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell....it is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.(James 3:5-8)
The Apostle Paul told the Galatians and Ephesians about the new creation as being sensitive to the desire of the Spirit. He mentioned that the ungenerated man's heart is insensitive to things of the Spirit because they are blunt.The prophet Ezekiel spoke about the ungenerated heart as a heart of stone- too insensitive to what God wants.
The born again Christian is very sensitive to any act of sins, be it regarded as small or big. One of the characteristic of the Spirit-filled life is the beautiful, encouraging words spoken which portrays the gentleness and humility of the spirit and what's in the heart. That is why, true Christians are able to hear God speaking to them. They are able to discern things which is or which is not of the Spirit.
A person who scold or hurt people at will has a trouble heart.
St Paul urged the Galatians and Ephesians to take of the old life and put on the new life. Try to listen to what we say when we are angry and try to learn to get rid of the obscene words, words of hate etc.. and I believe, the light will begin to shine in our hearts.
SOME PEOPLE TOLD ME...
A couple who just got married went to make a visit to their auntie house when their auntie made remarks that the wife will have difficulty in having children!This was not the only time that auntie had made such hurting remarks. Another nephew who brought his wife for a visit was shocked when that auntie told the daughter-in-law that she was too small to have children.
For a couple who had just married, the most important thing in their minds were to have babies!And to tell them that they will not have children would hurt them terribly.
Similarly, if you are fond of calling your own sons or daughters all kind of bad names such as fatty, good for nothing, stupid etc..you are hurting them like as if you cut them with knives!
Christians should show the way for we are different- not like the Gentiles ( according to the Apostle Paul). Unfortunately, we hear a lot of remarks from non-Christians that they will never want to be Christians because the Christians appeared to do what the unbelievers do.
Even some non-Christians behave better than some so called Christians in manner of speech.
A lot of Christians always emphasize some other kinds of wrong doing or sins such as adultery, theft, smoking, getting drunk.Most sermons touch on such wrong doing.We forget that what comes out from a person's heart really contaminates the person as what Jesus said in the Gospel according to Matthew with regards to the heart(Matthew 15:17-20).
Flaming arrows
Freedom of speech?Silence is golden..and truly it is really golden.If we are people who like to talk a lot, we might be in danger of going out of good arrows and getting cheaper brands instead.If we do not control our tongues,we could be firing flaming arrows at someone's heart.What are some of the flaming arrows?They are abusive words,sarcastic remarks,threats,angry words, scolding and degrading remarks to mention a few etc.
Many quarrels and fights start with spoken words. The words ignite the fire and everyone want a go at each others' throat.Those people involved didn't like what they had heard. In other words, they were hurt on the inside. This thing happen to each and everyone of us. Ask yourselves who had ever made you really mad?You were hurt, that's why you qrumble or got angry with someone. Hence, we need to be very careful in using our tongues. How people like us depends a lot on how we speak to them.
Christians, especially those who preaches must always check on themselves to use the most appropriate words. Otherwise many people will leave the church.
Kind words are words that could bring others to accept us and listen to us.Kind words spoken to others are a form of giving from us.When we speaks kind words, we make others happy or pleased and they are likely to be motivated to say good things. Kind words also bring healing to a wounded heart.
Reckless words pierce like a sword, but the tongue of the wise brings healing(Proverbs 12:18>
James also mentioned that the tongue is like a fire, which starts with a spark but can consume the whole area. The tongue, if not control will start a gossip or unnecessary talk that can bring dishonour or discredit to innocent people. That is why, the damage done by a tongue is even worse than what a knife will do. You can imagine how merciless a person can be if he or she has no control over his or her tongue. So reckless words are like a sword or spear or an arrow.
We must always bring healing to others through wise and nice words because it does not cost at all.Nice words are words of peace and surely it will bring peace to our soul too.
He who guards his mouth and his tongue keeps himself from calamity.(proverbs 21:23
SELF-INFLICT INJURY
Some hurts that we received are from others but some are caused by our neglegence. This is what I call, self-inflict wound.In the book of Hosea, God says that His people perish because of a lack of knowledge or when they cast off restrain.For instance, smoking.Smoking brings damage to the smoker's lung and yet he is not aware of it or he does not restrain himself from bringing damage upon himself.Committing sins is inflicting wounds to our spirit too.We inflict cuts or wounds upon ourselves.We need to restrain ourselves so that we do not harm ourselves, body or spirit.
LOVE.....SELF-CONTROL
The fruits of the Spirit is love, joy, peace.......self-control. These are the marks of Christians. These are what we see in those who fear and trust in our Lord Jesus Christ. If the Spirit of God is in us, and we have the new life, these fruits are what we produce and what others will get out of us. When we produce these fruits, it is not only for us, but it is for other people to receive and eat from us. Other people will sure to benefit from us. People will come to us because fruit trees is abound and people will be healed.
Love as described by Paul in 1 Corinthians 13 should prevent us from HURTING other people. Instead of hurting other people, we should heal them.. the fruits of the Spirit in us is for healing those around us. They must benefit the whole church. Self-control is an important fruit. It ensure that we do not do or say something that we may regret later on. Self-control is born our of a peaceful heart and a heart full of love and understanding.
SILENCE IS GOLDEN too.
How long will you torment me and crush me with words? 10 times now you have reproached me; shamelessly you attacked me..use my humilation against me.(Job 19: 2-5)/font>
The verse tell us how words can torment and crush the heart, as what Job had experienced. Many of us would not want to give advice to our friends eventhough we know that they are going into trouble. But once they got into trouble, we are quick to take advantage of the situation, using the humilation to reproach and torment the wrong doer time and again. We often use his wrong to shut his mouth. This is a form of torment. It hurts so much when we keep on utterring words that could humilate a person. We really wound the heart. It is better for us to learn to keep our mouth silent.
LORD, GIVE ME A MERCIFUL HEART SO THAT THE WORDS THAT I SPEAK WILL NOT BRING SHAME AND BURDEN TO OTHER PEOPLE. LORD, GIVE ME A LOVING HEART SO THAT OTHERS WILL KNOW THE MEANING OF LOVE. lORD GIVE ME A FORGIVING HEART, SO THAT I HAVE NO STORE HOUSE FOR HATE.
I ASK THIS IN JESUS'S NAME.AMEN
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