Love you all, praying for you.
I just love God’s Word – and am so thankful for it. It gives life-giving advice. It distinguishes between God’s Way, and man’s way, truth and deception, the way the world acts, and the way God instructs His people to act. Have you ever noticed how easily conflict can arise? The quickest place is in marriage, then family, then friends, and associates, or a community. What is the first thing that causes disunity, hurt feelings, misunderstanding, which brings division and can lead to strife? The first thing? Not listening. Wanting to share, more than wanting to understand. What’s the next thing? An unguarded tongue. Not speaking life – a lack of kindness, an unkind word. Someone said when they realized their marriage was over. We were hurting each other. First that doesn’t mean their marriage is over, it means you have to be committed to the marriage enough to change. But why would anyone allow this to happen in the first place? They don’t choose to listen and understand, and they don’t choose kindness. Good will; benevolence, that temper or disposition which delights in contributing to the happiness of others, which is exercised cheerfully in gratifying their wishes, supplying their wants, or alleviating their distresses; kindness ever accompanies love - Webster 1828. If you lack kindness – you cannot demonstrate love. Kind is more than nice or polite. You can be nice or polite, but not kind. Kind is a predisposition, an intrinsic motivation, it’s a commitment of the will, a permanent practice, a lifestyle of expending yourself for the good of someone else. (See the PRISM Topic – Kindness. Here's a secret about PRISM Topics... God’s Word is powerful – God promises it will always produces something. So if you meditate on God’s Word about kindness – guess what it will produce in you? Good relationships start with the ear and the tongue. This is the fear of the LORD. Psalms 34:11 – Come, my children, listen to me; and I will teach you the fear of the LORD. Whoever of you loves life and wants to live a life that is long and prosperous, keep your tongue from evil and your lips from telling lies. Turn from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it. (Find agreement). God also lists another benefit of this way of life… the next verse… The eyes of the LORD are on the righteous, and his ears are attentive to their cry; (God will hear you – attentively!) verse 16 – but the face of the LORD is against those who do evil, to blot out their name from the earth. On a larger scale – God says – don’t join in with the rebellious. This is where discernment comes in. A great place to start is ask God for discernment, and your new information filter. Is it true? where is the evidence? what’s in it for them? and what does God say? This passage is training in the fear of the LORD – it brings a long and prosperous life, it requires the choice to reject lies, and anything that is not kind. Guard your tongue – it’s for kindness and building up, not tearing down. Turn from evil – that is anything that brings harm or destruction. That means chose the opposite direction. Don’t join in with that either personally or corporately. Instead seek peace. It starts with rejecting what is false, anything evil (that harms, not builds). Think more highly, believe the best... Then listening and understanding, and pursuing kindness – the peace that brings unity and agreement. Here’s an amazing passage. It explains more fully what David was saying. I Peter 2:21 – To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example that you should follow in his steps. He committed no sins, and no deceit was found in his mouth. (He kept his tongue from evil.) V22 When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead he entrusted himself to him who judges justly… Then it goes on to instruct both husbands and wives in how they should treat each other – with the same humility of Jesus. It goes on... I Peter 3:8 – Finally, all of you, live in harmony with one another; be sympathetic, love as brothers, be compassionate and humble. Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult, but with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing. Any marriage where husband and wife obey God’s word - will never find themselves hurting each other – they will only build up - they will inherit a blessing. And then it says this. For, “Whoever would love life and see good days, must keep his tongue from evil and his lips from deceitful speech. He must turn from evil and do good; he must seek peace and pursue it. For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and his ears are attentive to their prayer, but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil. This is Psalms 34:11 with the example and instruction of Christ. Jesus is the example for marriages, families, friendships, and communities. Obedience to God’s Word will bring long and prosperous lives for marriages, families, friends, communities, and nations. Praying that you will listen today, that you will choose kindness and pursue it always, that you will desire the good of others, over the pursuit of yourself – so God’s eye will always be on you, and his ear will attend to your prayers. So that you will receive the blessing He promised! Love you all, dad
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