Tuesday Reading: Proverbs 27:5-6
Key Verse: Proverbs 27:6
6 Faithful are the wounds of a friend; but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful.
Devotion:
Just because we love someone it does not mean that we should never tell them off for doing something wrong; far from it because if we do love them we would want to rebuke them to protect them from going any deeper into the sin they are walking towards. It certainly is more effectual being rebuked for something than being loved no matter if we do right or wrong – how else are we to continue learning right from wrong unless we have friends who are willing to point out those opposite directions?
Being publicly rebuked is not fun and that, I think, is not what is meant by these words. Rather the rebuke from and open heart; if we are rebuking with a hidden agenda then we are no better than the person we are rebuking, but if we are rebuking with all truth and an open heart then we are showing that we follow the truth and that they should be as well. Yes there may well be someone who comes out being hurt by open rebuke but what hurt is going to be worse, the short-term hurt of being told off or the long-term hurt of the recipients of what is wrongfully done against them?
When people do wrong they affect many other people and not just those by their sides. We also have a chain effect where one person hurting another will affect yet another person because they are friends with that other person who in turn has friends that are hurt because they are hurt. It is not just the person you are affecting that feels the effects of things you do. As Christians we have to open our hearts to those around us knowing that that will in turn affect still more; just like the rings of a ripple on a pond as they spread out and gently shake plants and animals that make be far away from the original splash. That does not give us the right to abuse that love that we should show to give others a false sense of security when we do not mean it in our hearts! God wants us to love others from our hearts and not just through the words we can use...
Points to Ponder:
Who do you think you affect when you misbehave?
Have you remembered God?
