Monday, June 18, 2007
Bitter words
I realised something during a conversation with a friend last night, often times when a barb is directed at us or we feel hurt by what someone has said, our first reaction is to retort with something stinging, hoping that whoever's on the receiving end will feel hurt too. Our prickly defences often cause alot more hurt than there needed to be, and so it goes on..This reminds me of a blog post that steph wrote a few months back about the power of the words we speak, this verse written there was the one that came into my mind this morning too..
A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger... The tongue that brings healing is a tree of life, but a deceitful tongue crushes the spirit' (Proverbs 15: 1,4)
It's very true, on hindsight.. that we should guard our tongues, for from it all sorts of ugly things can come pouring.. things that have been ruining relationships for centuries.. and to make it easier on ourselves, since censoring what you say all the time can be so very difficult, we should also censor our minds first.. haha cos if we dont have the thoughts, or cut them off before they can develop, then they wont be able to gain speed and pop out in words.
Another thing that I realised is that we really shouldn't get angry at others cos it just makes you miserable.. I'm not saying that moping around and finding excuses for them is a good way, so not, trust me.. but I don't see the point in working yourself up just cos someone has chosen to be less than civil to you.. easier said than done, yes.. haha so that's something to work on!
Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you. Eph4:31
weiwei (: at 4:56 PM