Speak love...

Disclaimer...Let me start this by saying I am talking to myself as much as I am talking to you. I know I have said things to family and friends that have likely been unkind. I can be harsh without even realizing it. My heart wants to say one thing but my words fail me. I always get nervous when someone tells me something they remember I said to them. Things fly out of my mouth sometimes without me realizing how it may be received. Family, Friends: please accept my sincerest apology. I am a work in progress!

As I listened to a friend share a less than pleasant church experience for she and her young child, I felt a righteous anger towards this establishment for many reasons. Mainly, this is why people don't like Christians and maybe even don't trust God, because they can't trust us. They can't trust us with their messy lives, their broken hearts, their fears and failures because they feel they will be judged or treated badly. This has been a reality for my friend. Luckily, she has a solid relationship with God but this experience has likely made an impression on her child.

The truth is our hurt friends are right. They can't trust us (Christians) with their messes or their broken hearts because we will fail them, but shouldn't they be able to? Most of us won't mean to fail them but we will. The reason we fail is because we are human. We operate out of our flesh more times than we would like to or would like to admit. But this cannot be an excuse to hurt people. We are held to a higher standard. We know the love of God and have received His grace and mercy. We have an obligation, in fact we are commanded, to share this love, grace, and mercy with others.

"We love because He first loved us. If anyone says, 'I love God,' yet hates his brother, he is a liar." 1 John 4:19-20

"And He has given us this command: Whoever loves God must also love his brother." 1 John 4:21.

By what other means will our hurting friends have an encounter with God but through us? If we claim to love God and have Jesus in our heart, and we hurt people, will this not be how they view God? Won't they see Him as someone they must hide their pain from, guard their hearts from? The only safe person to comfort us is God but it is our job to point our friends in His direction. It is impossible to do this if we are spewing venom and leaving carnage as we walk this earth.

I am working to become better at this. I know I have judged others in the past, I know I have said harsh things (see apology above), but God continues to work on me. He has used my former opinions to shape me into a better understanding of other's walk. He has allowed situations and circumstances (see former blogs) to scorch my life that I foolishly thought I would never encounter in this lifetime.

When you walk through fire you have a greater understanding of your smoldering friends. As I am coming out of the fire, still smoking a little, it is my prayer that my words to my friends and family are no longer harsh but loving. I pray they no longer feel judged but know they are accepted. I pray those I love, or maybe even those I have just met, feel safe sharing their messes, knowing that my life is messy too.

Friends, I believe we are all doing the best we can in the moments we have! I believe that but I love the saying...Know Better, Do Better! There is too much at stake for me to be careless with my words.

"May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer." -Psalm 19:14

"Set a guard over my mouth, O Lord; keep watch over the door of my lips. Let not my heart be drawn to what is evil, to take part in wicked deeds with men who are evildoers; let me not eat of their delicacies." Psalm 141: 3-4

Praying God will help me choose my words to accurately reflect my heart so that I may show His love, grace, and mercy!

-Until Next Time...