You Not Them

Love you all, praying for you
 
I just love God’s Word.  It gives instruction and habits that become character.   Proverbs 27:5 – Better is open rebuke than hidden love.  Wounds from a friend can be trusted, but an enemy multiplies kisses.  Have you ever been rebuked by a friend?  Have you ever suffered those wounds that can be trusted? Or do all your friends multiply kisses?  If you haven’t been rebuked in a while, or ever.  It’s likely not that you don’t need it.  It’s that no one really feels comfortable doing it.  Does that mean you don’t have good friends?  No.  It could be you not them.  Are you open to rebuke and correction?  Or are you defensive anytime someone mentions something you might not be fully correct about, or accurate in your perception.  Defensiveness is a counsel repellent.  Most people welcome counsel they agree with… But that’s not counsel, it could be kisses.  It’s the counsel that you don’t agree with that is the test of your humility and maturity.  Your response to that counsel, those rebukes and wounds, will determine if you get more.  Not that your friends are bad friends.  But if you discount their counsel, or bite their head off, that’s probably all you’ll get.  The wise know…  don’t cast your pearls before swine, they’ll just turn and rend you.  Praying that you will be open to counsel.  David said, Search my heart O GOD, and know my anxious thoughts, see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.  Sometimes the way God answers that prayer is through counsel – that you don’t agree with, at first... Something different than you are doing, by habit or conviction.  Praying that you will invite counsel.  It’s humility practice.  It sets the stage for people to speak into your life.  Hopefully you surround yourself with wise and Godly friends, invite their counsel.  They may tell you some things immediately, or at least they will feel the freedom to do so.  It will only benefit you.  Mature counsel givers – Pray before they Say.  Ask God first before sharing.  And when they do – mature counselors never expect their counsel to be fully followed to the “T” because it’s not about them.  They realize they are just a part of the multitude of counsel that their friends should be seeking – and they encourage them to.  When giving counsel, pray more than you say.  And God can use you to help others grow – wounds that can be trusted, are those led by the Holy Spirit, and they are always for your good, and the good of others.  Praying that you will invite counsel in your life, and pray continually, so the counsel you give – will be life giving!  Gotta be in His Word constantly, that’s the only thing that will make you wise enough to counsel anybody.  If you’re in God’s Word consistently – because it’s your delight.  God can use you in His prefect timing, to share a word of life for someone.  And also recognize truth when it is shared with you – even if it seems like a wound at first. 
 
Love you all,
dad