God
gave us the Bible, His word, to guide us in the right direction. One of my favorite places in the Bible is
Proverbs as it often gives me tangible pieces of wisdom that help me live and
lead. I have seen God’s grace as He has
spoken directly into a situation, or a need or a request through what I have
read or heard.
I’d
like to share some of the things that God spoke to our church leaders in a
meeting this week. These are power words
from Proverbs 15…
Proverbs 15:4 NLT
Gentle words are a tree of life; a
deceitful tongue crushes the spirit.
Lee
reminded our team that we must be people who err on the side of grace and make
sure we build people up with our words.
We have the opportunity to help or hurt people as we speak. God calls us to encourage others, and our
words are a great place to start.
Proverbs 15:1 NLT
A gentle answer deflects anger, but
harsh words make tempers flare.
Jennifer
reminded us that the places we are most comfortable are often the places where
we let our guard down. That means we
need to guard against becoming angry or letting ourselves be drawn into being
mean or hurting the people closest to us.
Proverbs 15:17 NLT
A bowl of vegetables with someone you
love is better than steak with someone you hate.
Some
of our team recently did the 21 Day Daniel Fast that is all about
vegetables. We could really understand
what this verse is about. Often when we
realize what our place in life is and we trust God there is incredible insight
and peace that comes from God. It is
better to have very little and have God’s blessing rather than eat like a rich
person and have nothing.
Proverbs 15:22 NLT
Plans go wrong for lack of advice; many
advisers bring success.
This
was one of the places that I wanted to dwell with our team. What came out of some of their mouths was
amazing. Instead of me speaking into
their lives, which I did, they spoke into my life and into my heart. Friends, we fail when we don’t listen to or
take into account what the wise people in our lives says. God uses those people to teach us.
Proverbs 15:33 NLT
Fear of the LORD teaches wisdom;
humility precedes honor.
I end
with this thought. Often we meet people
who are self-confident or even arrogant, and those people become what they are
when what they say doesn’t happen. They
become fools. It is the people who seek
God for wisdom that are humble and who God will honor. I have seen this in other people and in my
life. God will give us the confidence
that we need, yet we need to check ourselves and make sure our confidence is
based on the Savior and not in our ourselves.
Leading
isn’t easy, and it is often lonely. That
is why we have to seek God, press in to hear and see God in our daily
lives. We also have to intentionally
love and lead others. Watch God work
when His hand is on your life. That is
what some people would call your “sweet-spot” which is a cool and real
place. I pray that you will find it and
stay that. I pray that for myself and
for the people I serve with. I am
grateful for each of them and what they teach me.
God
has great things ahead. I can’t wait to
see what He has for us in the future!
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