Day 46  Words of Life

Friday September 7

As Doreen sat on the beach watching her children play with their dad, her heart was aching.  How she longed to run with them!  The joy of the movement, the feeling of the wind blowing through her hair.  Her mind ran back to so many memories of days gone by – competing on the high school swim team, hiking with her friends, biking on the long summer days…

“Hey mom, look at me!”  Doreen was jolted back to the present as she looked to see her youngest daughter happily splashing in the water.  With the return to reality came the familiar wave of pain and remorse.  Years of eating disorders had ravaged her metabolism which now operated at a fraction of its normal speed.  Her weight had grown to the point that even the simplest physical activities were taxing.

“Why God?”, she cried silently, as she had done a thousand times before.  “Why do I have to be overweight?  I hate my stupid metabolism!”  

With gentleness, a still small inner voice answered her in her heart.  “How can you curse and hate a part of your own body?  You are offended with your metabolism because of the pain it causes you by not working as it should. But instead of speaking life and healing and blessing over it, in anger you have cursed it and cut it off from the blessing of the rest of your body.”

Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.  1 Corinthians 12:27

Sometimes in the body of Christ there are members that don’t look, act or function the way we think they should.  They may be unhealthy and their dysfunction may hurt the rest of the body.  But if we give ourselves the right to become offended and to speak evil of (curse) them, we are actually cursing ouselves.   

But God has combined the members of the body and has given greater honor to the parts that lacked it,  so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other.  If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.  1 Corinthians 12:24-26

There are two competing voices before the throne of God.  One is the voice of Jesus, who sits at the right hand of the Father, and “ever lives to make intercession” for the saints.  (Hebrews 7:25).  The other is the voice of the enemy, “the accuser of our brothers, who accuses them before our God day and night.” (Revelations 12:10) 

If you bring accusations against the character or motives of another member of the body of Christ, you are aligning yourself by the power of agreement with the devil and opposing the redemptive work of the cross in that person’s life.

Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior. But now he has reconciled you by Christ's physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation- if you continue in your faith, established and firm, not moved from the hope held out in the gospel.  Colossians 1:21-23

Life and death are in the power of our tongue (Proverbs 18:12).  We choose by the words we speak whether we will expose others to be attacked by the enemy or if we will cover them in love,  even as Jesus did for us.

Brothers, do not slander one another. Anyone who speaks against his brother or judges him speaks against the law and judges it.  James 4:11

Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. 1 Peter 4:8

But what about honesty?  Shouldn’t we be truthful with people about what we see and how we feel? 

Truth is like a knife.  A knife in the hands of a skilled surgeon, can be used to save a life; but the same knife in the hands of a murderer can be used to take a life.  One of the greatest manifestations of the wisdom of God is how the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Truth, who knows every weakness and dark place in our hearts, does not expose this “truth” to us all at once.  He knows this would overwhelm us.  So He mercifully measures revelation, uncovering layer by layer, and allowing us to experience just enough godly sorrow to lead to repentance but not to bring us to utter despair and hopelessness.

Since our human wisdom cannot possibly compare to His wisdom, we can only deal safely with  the hearts of others when we lay down our right to speak the truth as we see it and choose to speak only what we hear the Father speaking.

Today let us make this commitment to speak life to the body, not death and cursing, so that speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ. From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work. Ephesians 4:15-16

Let’s pray this prayer together:   Father I commit today that I will not let any unwholesome talk come out of my mouth, but only that which is helpful for building up others according to their needs.  Forgive me God for the times when I have grieved the Holy Spirit with whom I was sealed for the day of redemption by speaking negatively about another member of Your body.  Father I choose to get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. And Lord I choose to be kind and compassionate to others, forgiving others, just as in Christ God you forgave me. (Ephesians 4:29-32)

Father I ask you to bring to my remembrance any time when I have cursed (even in my heart) or spoken wrongly about other members of the body of Christ.  Father I bring (name of person/church/situation) before You and I ask you to forgive me for speaking evil about them and I break the power of the evil words spoken.  Father I say that (person/church/situation) is covered in the blood of Jesus and I speak life and healing and blessing over their lives.  In the name of Jesus, I pray, Amen!

For further meditation:  Mark 7:14-22. Titus 3:1-2, Ephesians 4:29-32, I Peter 2:1-3, Colossians 3:8-9