Waist Deep 2018 - June 26


Ecclesiastes 7: 21, 22 Do not pay attention to every word people say or you may hear your servant cursing you – for you know in your heart that many times you yourself have cursed others. (NIV)


God is helping me develop a thick skin while maintaining a soft heart.*


This verse “just happened” to be the theme for my devotional one night after a particularly grueling experience. I had listened to lies, innuendos, and accusations about myself and I struggled with the temptation to “return the favor.” While I am not proud of how I handled the situation – I would like to have been gracious, instead I was defensive – I did manage not to sink to the other person’s level.  

When I was in high school, I bought a new dress that I thought looked amazing on me. I was so excited to wear it to school, but when I got there, a boy who meant nothing to me said I looked like a fruit salad and I never wore the dress again. Why should I have cared what he thought? There are people in my life whose opinions matter – but there are also those whose thoughts about me should just be ignored.

I know you have done it, too: uttered the thoughtless – even cruel – remark. Did you mean for it to cause permanent damage to the other person? Did you even consider that it could have? None of us thinks that we have that much power – but we do. Solomon tells us to combat power with power. When others use the power of their words to hurt us, we have the power to deflect the words – to diminish their power – simply by choosing to ignore them.


One knows how little meaning attaches to many of one's own idle words, and should not therefore pay any attention to the idle words of others.*


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Waist Deep 2018 - August 27

Image
Matthew 28: 19, 20 “Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.” (NIV)    Never allow the thought – “I am of no use where I am,” because you certainly can be of no use where you are not.* In an offering meditation during Missions Emphasis month I began by asking everyone in the audience to stand. I told everyone who had been born right there in our county to sit down. More than 90% remained standing. Then, everyone who was born elsewhere in our state was told to take their seat. A few more sat. Next, if they were born in any other state in the US they could sit. In our multi-cultural community, that left a lot of people still on their feet. My point? We don’t have to go far to reach the world because the world has come to us.  It seems that we may have been slightly off the mark in how we have been interpreting Jesu...
Read more

Waist Deep 2018 - November 25

Image
I Thessalonians 5: 25 Brothers, pray for us. (NIV) We can do a great deal for people after we pray for them but little of lasting value until we pray for them.* I am guilty of thinking – and even saying – that prayer is the least I can do. Really? Is there something else I can do that is more powerful than praying? Paul doesn’t seem to think so – he ends his letter to the Thessalonians with this request for prayer and nothing more. There are reasons why we get a little judgmental when someone says, “I’ll pray for you.” One reason is we don’t believe he will actually do it. Sometimes it’s just something to say because we are socially awkward and don’t know what else to say. Often, offering to pray for someone is a way to avoid offering to do something for him. When my dad was dying, I had many friends who were praying for me. There was nothing that they could do . I don’t know what their exact requests were. Perhaps some prayed for my dad to get well (he w...
Read more

Waist Deep 2018 - January 25

Image
Exodus 34: 6, 7 “The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished.” (NIV) Numbers 14: 18 The Lord is slow to anger, abounding in love and forgiving sin and rebellion. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished. (NIV) Psalm 86: 15 But you, O lord, are a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness. (NIV) Psalm 103: 8, 10 The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love. . . . [H]e does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities. (NIV) God does not tell you what He is going to do; He reveals to you Who He is.* Interviewing for a job challenges our ability to balance just the right amount of modesty with a healthy dose of self-confidence. We can be proud of our accomplishments but we don’t want t...
Read more