Proverbs
13:3-5 GNT
Be careful what you say and
protect your life. A careless talker destroys himself.
I don’t agree with
everyone. I am sure you don’t
either. You might even be surprised to
know that there are some people that I don’t like, but that is simply because I
am human and not perfect.
God tells me that I need to
love and accept people like He loves and accepts me. That is an important part of how we are to
live life and how we are to interact with others.
Over the past week I have been
touched by the pain of the people who are suffering from the impact of
Hurricane Harvey. Within this week has
been much said, mostly on social media, about Joel Osteen and the church he is
pastor of in Houston, Texas. Let me say
that I don’t agree with all that Pastor Osteen shares, and I am sure we would
have plenty of disagreements about theology and even in ministry or church
practices.
What I do want you to hear and
understand is that it is my desire to be very careful what I say about
others. I am not perfect. I have a big mouth. I am opinionated. But it is my heart and my desire to talk less
about people involved in ministry even if I don’t agree with them.
There are several reasons why I
feel this way. I do understand that we
are all entitled to our opinion and to the right to share our opinion. Sharing with you today is a piece of my heart
that I desire to be very careful what I say about another child of God. Even if I disagree or dislike that person I
choose to be careful. Furthermore, many
times I have shared my opinion about ministries and ministers that I do not
personally know. When we state an
opinion, often we don’t have all the details.
Does that make sense?
Please understand that this
applies not just to a pastor but to anyone.
It even applies to the President of our country and what you or I say
about him.
Here is where the rubber hits
the road: simply be careful what you say about others. Without all the details, without first hand
knowledge, without being perfect, be careful.
Our words ought to be ones of courage and encouragement.
I am not judging you or me or
the ones we have talked about. It is a
high calling to issue grace to others, to treat people with mercy, kindness and
the grace God has treated us with. May
our words lead others to find God and to see the good in people and to
challenge each of us to step higher and serve more.
I close with a passage of
Scripture that we need to consider.
Matthew 7:1-6 NLT
Do not judge others, and you will not be judged. 2 For you will be treated as you treat
others. The standard you use in judging
is the standard by which you will be judged. 3 “And why worry about a speck in your friend’s
eye when you have a log in your own? 4 How can you think of saying to your friend, ‘Let me help you get rid of that speck in
your eye,’ when you can’t see past the log in your own eye? 5 Hypocrite! First get rid of the log in your own
eye; then you will see well enough to deal with the speck in your friend’s eye. 6 “Don’t waste what is holy on people who are
unholy. Don’t throw your pearls to pigs! They will
trample the pearls, then turn and attack you.
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