Our Pastor: Pastor Tom is doing a series on U-Tube.  When he spoke on the tongue in James 3 he made such good points concerning relationship.  A point was made about a much used  statement being heresy “Sticks and Stones break bones but words don’t hurt”.  This got me to thinking about how true this that words can bring disastrous events today in our country.  We are inundated with deceptive words, and they can possibly and in some cases will be either the cause of many being led astray; or of a total breakdown of societies across our world.

One thing that pastor said, I must really disagree with in the vein in which I’m proceeding.  He said: “if the thing being said is not to build someone up; then don’t say it”.  The problem with that, and because Pastor Tom I’m sure would agree with what I’m going to say then I’m just going to say it.  If The Holy Spirit tells us to: “Speak the Truth in Love”, does that truth always come to us or others as being love?  Jesus told us to Love even our enemies, but He was totally truthful with His enemies, and they obviously did not feel His love, and they did not understand it as love; nor did they receive it as love.  He saiid: “you are of your father the Devil.”, yes, Jesus said that. Had Jesus not stated that as He had done; then we could not know as we do now, just what it was that would be done in our own life through religion to deceive us. Jesus, knew that it would be the words of our enemy and his followers that would be used against us to deceive us. 

Being loving and meek in Jesus case does not mean to say that: “if it is not uplifting, don’t say it”.  Show me one prophet of God, including John the Baptist, who “just did not say it” even when it hurt. 

Here is the critical component in our conversations and the words that we use: it is the Holy Spirit’s direction for our words.  When the Holy Spirit is involved we are deliberate and cautious. We do not fly off the handle, we do not speak as the fool without first considering our words and how God intends them.  Neither do we withhold them if we know the reason that we are to speak them.  We if thoughtful can however deliver them without anger and without a loud gruff tone of voice.  

I personally have come to love the written word, for with it there is no question as to what is being stated.  How it is being delivered, of course can be questioned, but even then, if it is well thought out, it takes on its own pure meaning. 

When David was confronted by the prophet Gad, Gad obviously had considered just how he was to deliver this message from God so that it would have at least the chance to lead David to repentance. 

But we also need to remember that there are enemies of ours, who have already become enemies of God.  The majority of the Sanhedrin fell into that category.  Jesus knew that. And it is my firm belief that these men were not among those who He prayed to the Father while on the cross, that His Father would “forgive them for they know not what they do.”   How can I be so sure?  For He knew that they did know what they were doing.  They were as God’s representatives rejecting what the Holy Spirit was speaking to them through Jesus, and they had rejected what Jesus Himself, the Word of God, had spoken to them in their own scrolls containing the Scripture. 

Now, I started this post, or rather Pastor Tom did, with his message that inspired it.  And I want to thank him for his words concerning our relationships to those whom we love.  Remember, our objectives are very different, as are the Holy Spirits, depending on, to whom we are speaking.  However, our goal should always be to be loving.  I fail in this possibly as much as I fail in anything.  I apologize, if I have failed you in that way.