Gracious words are like a honeycomb, sweetness to the soul and health to the body
-Proverbs 16:24 When I was a child and I had a sore throat, occasionally my mom would have me drink a homemade mixture of hot tea and honey. As far as medicine goes, this was a pretty good option. Most medications are bitter to the taste or have annoying side-effects, but honey is sweet and soothing. In order to understand Proverbs 16:24, it is helpful to remember both of these properties of honey. It provides both healing and sweetness. When the book of Proverbs was written there wasn’t a drug store on every corner and the advancements of modern medications were unknown to them. Honey was commonly used as both a medication and a sweetener. To the original reader of Proverbs, both of the uses would quickly come to mind. In this regard, gracious words function similarly to honey. Not only do they put us at ease and provide “sweetness to the soul,” but they can also bring “health to the body.” I think it’s obvious how gracious words provide sweetness to the soul. Hopefully everyone has experienced having their spirit lifted by someone else’s kind and gracious words. But how do gracious words bring “health to the body?” To answer this question, it’s helpful to remember the proverbs are a form of poetry. Like in other forms of poetry it’s common in proverbs for words to have more than one meaning. This is true for the word “body” (or literally “bones” in the Bible). The word body can refer to your own physical body, but it can also refer to the relationships in a community. In Proverbs 16:24, both of these meanings are in mind. Not only does the removal of personal anxiety and stress through gracious words bring healing to your body, but it also brings healing to your relationships. Right now, we are living in a pretty stressful time. Many of us have slowed down our schedules quite a bit and this has given us more time with our family. This can have a calming effect, but right below the surface almost all of us are experiencing new anxieties that can harm our health and relationships. We worry about schoolwork, jobs, relationships, health, missed experiences, and many other things. If you’re like me, it doesn’t take much for these anxieties to work their way up to the surface of things and begin to affect the way I interact with others and my personal health. This week we need to remember that we have been given a powerful healing tool: our gracious words. Look for opportunities this week to share kind words with others. For many of us the only faces we are seeing all day are our immediate family. Look for opportunities to share intentionally gracious and kind words with your siblings, parents, and children. By sharing gracious words we can help others heal during this stressful time and we can bring sweet happiness to others.
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A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.
-Proverbs 15:1 If your house is like mine, a lot of things are different right now. School is at home, work is at home, entertainment is at home, everything is at home. Most of us probably didn’t’ even realize how often we got out of the house until this past month. All of this change can cause a lot of stress on the family. One of the most helpful things that you can do right now for the people you love is to remember that everyone has a lot of new stress that they are struggling with. Our verse this week, is a reminder that we should use restraint in the way we speak to one another. This isn’t easy even when things are normal, but it can be especially difficult when times are stressful. When we are confused about an assignment, annoyed by the distractions, or sad because we can’t visit our friends, it’s easy to let our tone of voice or language sound unkind to others–even those we love. This verse gives two helpful pieces of advice that can help us respond to our stressful situation with godliness. The first piece of advice that we should take to heart is to respond to others with a “soft answer.” We normally don’t think of speech as being soft or hard, but what Solomon is getting at here is that we should speak to each other with gentleness, love, respect, and kindness. This is true all the time, but what this verse is saying is that it is especially true when someone is angry with us. There is a lot of power in words like, “I’m sorry”, “I was wrong”, “Please forgive me.” Too often our first response is to be defensive and to accuse others. Part of being able to give a soft answer is to set pride aside and to instead put our love for others before self-defense. A second piece of advice contained in this proverb is to love others even when they are angry. This verse assumes that there will be times when people show us “wrath.” When this happens, assume the best of others. Right now most of us are surrounded 24/7 by people we love very much and people we know love us. There are times when parents might get upset because a child neglected to do a chore, or a child might get upset because he can’t do some of the things he wants to do. Part of being able to give a soft answer, is to assume the best of others. Because we love others, we genuinely want to diffuse anger rather than stir it up. This week look for opportunities to serve others with your words. Look for opportunities be a calming influence. When you see someone stressed our angry, ask what you can do to help. Look for ways to give a “soft answer.” When we give a soft answer, we are demonstrating the fruit of the Spirit by showing love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control at a time when it is sometimes hardest to do. “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God, and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”
Philippians 4:6-7 The timing of our study of this verse is so amazing that you would almost think that we knew at the beginning of the school year that there was going to be a pandemic that greatly disrupted school, work, and personal life. Obviously, we didn’t know anything about the virus at that time, but the truth is that God did know about the virus. In his perfect timing our Scripture memory plan aligned perfectly with God’s actions in history. As I type that first paragraph, I’m reminded of several ideas that I want to include in this first devotional for our digital learning plan. The first thing I’m reminded of when I read this text right now is that God’s timing is perfect. Nothing happens that is outside of his perfect will or control. All things work together for his glory and the benefit of those who love him (Rom 8:28). The awesome fact (and I mean “awesome” in the literary sense of inspiring both fear and admiration) is that this perfect plan includes pandemics. Humble submission to God’s sovereign administration is ultimately the reason we don’t need to be anxious, are able to submit everything to God in prayer, and finally experience the peace of God which surpasses all understanding. I can’t tell you exactly why God has chosen to allow a virus to spread at this time, but I know that if we are going to experience peace and freedom from anxiety we must start by trusting him even when his ways are mysterious. The second idea that I wanted us to think about together is the ease with which we may fall into anxiety right now. Even as I type this, I’m sitting beside my phone that buzzes every time a student or teacher posts something into the new google classroom. I’ll bet its buzzed over 100 times just since I sat down to type. It’s easy to allow this to raise my blood pressure and increase my anxiety. All of us are experiencing disruptions right now. Schedules changed, frustrations with new technologies, fear for loved ones, and of course the ever-present updates on the NEWS. This verse is a powerful reminder that we can’t let those things control our anxiety levels. The one in whom our hope rests is much more powerful than anything else we encounter this day or any day. This includes coronavirus. Even though it’s easy right now to allow our anxiety levels to raise, we must fight against this tendency. Instead of becoming anxious, we need to remember to submit all things to God in prayer. Let the things that increase our anxiety become reminders that we need to submit all things to God in prayer. Every time my phone buzzes with a new notification, I need to submit my concerns in prayer. Every time the you become confused or frustrated because you don’t understand how Google Classroom works, you need to submit our concerns to God in prayer. Every time the NEWS describes the coronavirus, we need to submit our concerns to God in prayer. Allow the things that normally bring us anxiety, to turn us to God. Then we will know the peace of God which surpasses all understanding. Finally, remember we’re all in this together. As a fellowship of believers, we are here to help each other. We are all in circumstances that are far beyond our control, and your service just might be the answer to someone else’s prayer. By practicing fellowship through service, we help to usher in the peace of God. Don’t let the uncertainty of our circumstances increase your anxiety. We’re all in this together. Ask for help. Be a helper. Don’t be anxious. “Every one of us is counting dice that we didn’t roll and the loser is the last to ask for help” The point is this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.
2 Corinthians 9:6-7 At Midway Covenant Christian School we aim to instruct each child to be a student, sower, servant, and steward. The memory verses for this week help us to better understand what it means to be a sower. These verses use the ideas of sowing bountifully and giving cheerfully in a parallel fashion. By making a comparison between giving and sowing, Paul is encouraging us to think differently about giving. Frequently when people think about giving, they think of it in terms of personal loss. When a person gives he no longer has the gift or the resources that were used to acquire the gift. However, when Paul uses the metaphor of sowing to describe giving, he flips this way of thinking on its head. Sowing is hard work, but it’s definitely not a loss. When the farmer sows seed, there is an expectation of gain. The farmer expects to see an increase and ultimately a harvest after he sows. Paul is encouraging believers to give in this hopeful way. When the believer gives, he is sowing. He expects to see increase. However, we need to guard against thinking of this increase in a materialistic or greedy way. We don’t give to increase our own stockpile of goods, but rather we give to magnify the glory of God. The gifts of the sower, whether they are money, acts of kindness, words of truth, or the gospel message, are given to magnify God’s glory. Commenting on this verse, Phillip Hughes said, “Goodness brings its own reward and indeed leads to an increase of goodness.” This is the mindset of the sower. When the sower gives goodness, he trusts in faith that there will be an increase of goodness. The second point that Paul makes in this verse is that the giver should give cheerfully. It is a blessing to be able to give to others. When we give it should not be with reluctance or begrudgingly. The best way to make sure that you are giving cheerfully is to focus on the person we are giving. Think of the increased joy in their life and allow their joy to become a part of your joy. This is what we mean when we say we want to train students to be sowers at Midway Covenant Christian School. We want our students to learn to give good gifts to the world with the hopeful expectation of increased glory given to God and increased joy in the lives of themselves and others. To be a bountiful sower is to be a cheerful giver. Other verses to consider: Mark 12:41-44 – Give with your heart Gal 6:7-10 – Do good to everyone, especially the church. Prov 11:24-25 – God rewards those who give Luke 6:38 – Give generously Matt 19:21 – Be careful not to make an idol of your possessions Be angry, and do not sin;
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AuthorAs principal of Midway Covenant Christian School, I've designed this blog to give insight and guidance to our school family. ArchivesCategories |