I read and read chapters 16 & 17 this week. Hope you have too! Oh there are a plethora of verses to talk about. As I was listening to them on the way to and from the office I couldn’t help but comment, “Yes Lord” or “Amen” or “No kidding!” or “Isn’t that the truth.” I wonder, do you do that too? I wonder, does God do that back to us when we are talking to Him?
Anyway, some standouts are:
“a cheerful heart is good medicine”
“a friend loves at all times and a brother is born of adversity”
“he who forgives over an offence promotes love”
LOL “better a dry crust with peace and quiet than a house of feasting with strife”
“grey hair is a crown of splendor” (that’s great news because I’m heading there quickly.
“pleasant words are like honeycomb”
“pride goes before destruction”
“the Lord works out everything for His own ends”
“commit to the Lord whatever you do and your plans will succeed.”
getting to the heart
Those are all amazing pieces of wisdom. We (God and I) were all in sync, yes yes yes. Until…
Until I reached Proverbs 17:5.
Then I stopped.
Oh it’s not that I disagreed, I don’t disagree.
I wholeheartedly agree.
But my agreement came with a question.
Am I a mocker?
Think about it
In just a few short words I stopped dead in my track and had to ask the Lord, “do I poke fun at the less fortunate?” This led me to question more deeply. Do I think less of others at all? Because here is the honest truth, what struck me in this verse was not the “mocking” it was the “contempt for their Maker.” I talk about seeing God’s beauty in creation all of the time. I have enjoyed spending a great deal of time capturing His beautiful creation in photographs just simply to honor Him. But trees and flowers and green grass and brown cows and striped zebras are not ALL of God’s beautiful creation. In fact, the best of the best of God’s creation was man. The bearer of His image, made in His likeness. When God made it, He said it was very good. Do I see all of the people as the beautiful bearers of God’s image? Do you?
challenge
How can we grow in this area?
I don’t think this has anything to do with “mocking” a friend and laughing together about our shortcomings. God did not convict me of that today. This has much more to do with valuing humanity. The very population that Jesus valued enough to rescue.
- Worship God for ALL that He’s made. If we take this head knowledge and let it seep into our hearts we can truly just be grateful to God for humanity. It’s hard to mock someone when you acknowledge the fact that he/she has been made by God and bears His image.
- Pray for ALL who God has made. When people are acting like idiots – I mean, when they are doing something that we are not in agreement with, it is really easy to be critical and poke fun. That might be a natural human response but is NOT a spirit-led response. If the Spirit of God is in us then we have a different response than what the rest of the world has, right? Prayer would be a great place to start making that change.
- Get to know those people who God has made. God created us for relationships. Sometimes people just need a smile or a conversation to let them know someone SAW them, someone cared. It’s not so easy to mock the people that you take the time to start a conversation with. And if you can’t have a conversation with them, then back to #2 have your conversation with God about them in a way that honors Him and who He has created.
I want to grow in this area. Gentler, kinder, and quick to build up rather than tear down. How about you?