Tag: I Corinthians 13:4-8

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Warning: No Mercy Hoarding Allowed

Dearest sisters,

I must tell you that although my letter is brief it comes with a fervent prayer that it will stir in you the sincerest desire to be thankful and generous with God’s mercy.  When I think of how our great God loves new beginnings there is no scripture more telling of this Truth than:

“The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.” Lamentations 3:22-23

Everyday God pours His mercy out to His beloved children because, each and every day we awaken from our slumber and open our eyes to this world, He knows we desperately need it.  We desperately need Him. Without Him we could easily be swallowed up by the world, the enemy and our own sinful flesh, the three battlefronts of our souls.

Because His love is sure and steadfast His mercy is endless. It does not take being in Christ very long before we realize how incredible this Truth is. If we have ever tried to forgive another person without this anchor you know, and I know our bitterness and resentment eventually resurface. Soon, the love and forgiveness we gave becomes something we wish we could take back. We become very choosy with whom we will give our mercy and forgiveness to. We decide who is worthy of it and who it is not! Wow! Wait just a minute that sounds familiar!  The servant who was graciously given mercy by his master and forgiveness for a debt he could never repay now chokes the person who owes him a day’s wages, comparatively speaking! Matthew 18:21-35.

“God so loved the world, that He gave us His Son…” (John 3:16). The language of this well- known verse exemplifies what the Lord says to us in Lamentations.  God loves so He gives. If you ever wonder why it is difficult to give mercy to another person, or that you want it back it could be that you don’t understand love at all. Love always gives and is constantly looking outward not inward. Check it out in I Corinthians 13:4-8.

The mercy which comes from the heart of God is never to be stored up and rationed out. That is what I call greedy. There are many excuses for hoarding the mercy God gives to us, but I think fear is most likely the number one excuse we are reserved in our giving. We are fearful of being hurt by the one we are making ourselves vulnerable to. We fear being rejected, we fear that if we give mercy to another there won’t be enough left for us. We fear being without at a later time, thinking God’s door will someday close. We fear that whatever we give out will not be given back to us. We fear looking stupid in the eyes of the world. We fear losing control of our little storehouses when in fact they do not even belong to us in the first place. You and I have been bought by the blood of Christ therefore we belong to God, He owns us! That includes our little storehouses.

We do not deserve God’s mercy, yet in an act of love He freely gives it to us.  It was not meant to be held on to but to be given out to others each day.  And at the end of the day our storehouse should be empty. Sister when I close my eyes at night I want my heart to have been emptied out, wrung out of all the goodness and mercy God has bestowed on me that day. Because, come the dawn of the next day (if He wills it to be) He will provide me (you) with it once again! New mercies each and every day. A new day a new beginning!

Who needs your mercy today? Will you choose to open the storehouse of your heart today and share what God has graciously poured into it? I pray that all who read this will do so gladly.

With love and mercy,

Susan

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Words with a Purpose

My dear sister,

This month the topic is “the tongue”; and so as I pondered that, several instances, phrases and bible verses came to my mind. It has taken prayerful consideration for the Lord to put in order all the ideas converging in my head and my heart.

Many years ago I heard the term; “she has a tongue hinged in the middle”. I am not sure about you but that picture in my mind, with the help of my imagination made me laugh. That is until I met someone in which my imagination was not necessary! In fact, while listening to this person talk (and talk, and talk….) I found myself staring past her lips into her mouth as it open and shut (completely tuning out her words mind you) to see if I could catch a glimpse of a shiny hinge within.

What this term means is that someone can say one thing to one person’s face and then turn around and say to another person something different, and usually it’s bad about the person they just had spoken to! This was the term used in my Mother’s generation for what my generation called; being two faced.

Speaking of my Mom, she used to say to me and my siblings; “If you can’t say something nice, don’t say anything at all!” Her hope as a widowed mother of five, I am certain (because she told me later) was to have some peace and quiet in her home. Needless to say, her words of advice along with my acute observations of my older siblings who did not heed her wisdom and the resulting consequences of their actions, had a very strong impact upon my personality. I am a fairly quiet person!

Somewhere in between these two pieces of advice must be a balance right? Amy Carmichael once wrote that before she spoke she would ask herself three little questions: “Is it true? Is it kind? Is it necessary?” this gave me some comfort! Speaking (communicating) is a good thing, a God given thing. But it does come with some responsibility and that means it is to be thoughtful! These three questions help me stay within the lines of God’s character, and His will for me as given in His word.

Is it true? One of God’s commandments given to the Israelites was : “thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor” (Exodus 20:16) Did you know that our tongues and the words we speak come directly from our hearts? (Matthew 15:17-20) when you and I engage in conversation it is very revealing as to what rules our hearts! While speaking with others do we lack in the truth factor? Do we impute motives where we are not sure because we have not bothered to check the facts or maybe the story or information sounds better if said this way versus the truth? Paul exhorts all Christians to “speak the truth in love” (Ephesians 4:15).

Which brings me to the second question; Is it kind? Is love the motivation for what is being said? Not the world’s definition of love but God’s definition of love. I Corinthians 13:4-8 ; “patient and kind, does not envy, does not parade itself, is not puffed up, does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil, does not rejoice in iniquity but rejoices in the truth, bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things”. When measured by God’s standard of love I find myself falling short most of the time. However, for those rare times when what I am about to say passes the litmus test of the first two questions, it is that third question that compels me to be silent.

Is it necessary? Once again I am challenged within my heart to examine my desires. What motivates my speech (conversation)? Is it necessary according to my own selfish desires? “I must be heard on the matter”, “I am right they are wrong and the matter must be rectified” Is every single detail important? Psalm 52:4 stops me in my tracks often; “you love all devouring words you deceitful tongue!”. Our words do have a purpose, they are to build each other up not to tear each other down!

May I encourage you dear friend? Take some time out of your day today (do not put it off til another day) to do a personal study in God’s word on the tongue. Here are some helpful places to start:

Psalm 5:9; 10:7; 12:4; 139:4 Proverbs 10:20; 10:31; 15:4; 18:21; 21:23

These are just a tiny fraction of what our faithful Father in heaven has to say about our tongues. I will warn you, be prepared to change the way you speak to others (especially those you love)! I know my habits have changed drastically over the last twenty years.

Blessings from your sister,
Susan