ALWAYS SOFT, ALWAYS STRONG. This is the challenge for the here and now, straight from the 'throne room' itself!
I've read in several different places this week about how we need to challenge and confront things that are just plain wrong, but that we need to do it well - with humility and because it is wrong, not because we are angry or hurt or frustrated.
Today I read these verses:
Let your speech always be with grace, as though seasoned with salt, so that you will know how you should respond to each person Colossians 4:6
Proverbs 31:26 She speaks with wisdom, and faithful instruction is on her tongue.
Proverbs 17:27 The one who has knowledge uses words with restraint, and whoever has understanding is even-tempered.
Proverbs 15:4 Gentle words are a tree of life; a deceitful tongue crushes the spirit.
Is it possible to say what needs to be said so that it not only rights the wrongs, but actually benefits the one doing wrong, so that it gives them an opportunity to see that it's wrong, to change?
By giving grace and using restraint, instead of being angry or frustrated or hurt, can we really actually make a difference and allow something, someone to change by using words well? Of course, changing is their decision, and they are free to choose wisely or not.
But do we make it difficult for people to see what's wrong and choose to do it differently, when we use words negatively and powerfully?
Can we be powerful without being harmful? That's the challenge. And it seems that it is possible, otherwise the Lord wouldn't tell us to do it, nor tell us how, as He has in the verses above.
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