Proverbs 10:20
“The tongue of the righteous is choice silver; The heart of the wicked is worth little.”
Proverbs 10:20 NKJV
It is easy to for me to tell when I am talking to a mature Christian person, as I feel it should be for any disciple of the Lord. The way in which they speak is always edifying to the Lord, and you can hear the love and character of God in their voices. Not every person has the same character traits and gifts that God has uniquely given them, but they all tend to hold the love of God inside of them, and all His wisdom that comes with knowing such love. About two months ago I was graced with meeting a couple here after church one Sunday. I met them in the cafe that we have here at church and our conversation just started out as a friendly hello. It did help that they were a white couple, being that you don't see too many here in Africa, but I just felt led to speak to them. After talking for a while with them I learned so much about their lives, the family that they had, and how much time they've spent here in Africa, which is the majority of their time here on Earth. They were in their later years of life, but my goodness I don't know if I've ever felt such love come from the mouths of a couple before in my entire life. And I don't mean an Earthly love. Not a love that's flirtatious, filled with smooth-talking, or of boasting. But a love that's genuine, a love that had me still wanting to listen to their story an hour and a half to two hours later. And they just kept pouring into me. A couple who was supposed to be enjoying their Sunday off together, which after talking with them seemed like a rare thing. But they didn't care. They were too busy loving on me through something as simple as just conversation. Just the stories they shared and the wisdom they had gained over the years. And the way they spoke of God, never referring to Him as anything other than “Father”. Every word they spoke I could feel the love of God in them. I would absolutely love to go back and just enjoy that time I had with them again. They are the type of people that this verse is talking about. See you can't just speak righteously when you haven't lived as a righteous person. It takes time to collect silver, and no new believer is going to have words with the same spiritual worth as a believer who has been a disciple of the Lord for decades. And that is the type of person to both look for and to one day strive to become. Those are the type of people where I know I can see the Lord most. That have Christ supremely reigning in their hearts and that I can gain the most wisdom from. And also I should one day hope to be like them. To have grown to know the Lord that intimately, and be able to pour into others with such wisdom and love. To not point others to myself, but rather to Jesus and the love that He has for every person on this Earth, and in a way that can be done even through just simple conversation. And not to boast in myself or my ability to talk with people, but to be able to boast in the Lord’s transformation of my life, and to be able to love on people as Jesus did. But if I instead try to boast in my own righteousness or speak in a fleshly manner, then I will be worth little, because what worth do I have if I don't have God dwelling within me? Every night before I go to bed I'm going to read this verse, to remind myself of how impactful the voice of a righteous person can be. And to humble myself in remembering that my righteousness only comes from Christ’s actions, and never from anything that I have done.
Proverbs 10:20 NKJV
It is easy to for me to tell when I am talking to a mature Christian person, as I feel it should be for any disciple of the Lord. The way in which they speak is always edifying to the Lord, and you can hear the love and character of God in their voices. Not every person has the same character traits and gifts that God has uniquely given them, but they all tend to hold the love of God inside of them, and all His wisdom that comes with knowing such love. About two months ago I was graced with meeting a couple here after church one Sunday. I met them in the cafe that we have here at church and our conversation just started out as a friendly hello. It did help that they were a white couple, being that you don't see too many here in Africa, but I just felt led to speak to them. After talking for a while with them I learned so much about their lives, the family that they had, and how much time they've spent here in Africa, which is the majority of their time here on Earth. They were in their later years of life, but my goodness I don't know if I've ever felt such love come from the mouths of a couple before in my entire life. And I don't mean an Earthly love. Not a love that's flirtatious, filled with smooth-talking, or of boasting. But a love that's genuine, a love that had me still wanting to listen to their story an hour and a half to two hours later. And they just kept pouring into me. A couple who was supposed to be enjoying their Sunday off together, which after talking with them seemed like a rare thing. But they didn't care. They were too busy loving on me through something as simple as just conversation. Just the stories they shared and the wisdom they had gained over the years. And the way they spoke of God, never referring to Him as anything other than “Father”. Every word they spoke I could feel the love of God in them. I would absolutely love to go back and just enjoy that time I had with them again. They are the type of people that this verse is talking about. See you can't just speak righteously when you haven't lived as a righteous person. It takes time to collect silver, and no new believer is going to have words with the same spiritual worth as a believer who has been a disciple of the Lord for decades. And that is the type of person to both look for and to one day strive to become. Those are the type of people where I know I can see the Lord most. That have Christ supremely reigning in their hearts and that I can gain the most wisdom from. And also I should one day hope to be like them. To have grown to know the Lord that intimately, and be able to pour into others with such wisdom and love. To not point others to myself, but rather to Jesus and the love that He has for every person on this Earth, and in a way that can be done even through just simple conversation. And not to boast in myself or my ability to talk with people, but to be able to boast in the Lord’s transformation of my life, and to be able to love on people as Jesus did. But if I instead try to boast in my own righteousness or speak in a fleshly manner, then I will be worth little, because what worth do I have if I don't have God dwelling within me? Every night before I go to bed I'm going to read this verse, to remind myself of how impactful the voice of a righteous person can be. And to humble myself in remembering that my righteousness only comes from Christ’s actions, and never from anything that I have done.
Comments
Post a Comment