“Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers.” (Ephesians 4:29, NKJV)
Will you let me be honest with you?
I hope so because here it comes….
As I arrived home last week one evening, someone was standing in my driveway that I am not very fond of. Really, “dislike” is a better term.
Just standing there with my husband, Eric.
Who was this person?
Well he is a friend… of Eric’s. But we have both known him for over twenty years.
Now you may wonder why I wouldn’t be fond of someone that I have known for over twenty years. Who was standing in my driveway. Talking to my husband. Having an ordinary conversation.
Then add on top of all of this…. he was waiting on Eric to start some routine auto mechanic work on his vehicle.… as a FRIENDLY GESTURE!!
UGH! UGH!! UGH!!!…….
Let me explain my feelings here please…..
If you have been following this blog, you already know my husband and I had many years of heartache in our marriage. And this friend of my husbands….. was the one person that always seemed to show up and call the most when our marriage was at its worse. Not trying to help our marriage either.
Instead, he enjoyed pulling our marriage apart…. even further than it was. That is all I am going to say about that. Most of the time, one can say the most with the least words.… if you know what I mean. 🙂
Now let’s get back to me pulling in the driveway…..
When I realized who he was, I took a very deep breath and thought to myself…. REALLY?
Then my heart and thoughts, suddenly began to race in an amazingly-coordinated sequence of dancing steps…. as if my heart and mind were doing a dance from the past. Of a long-ago-broken-apart heart moving simultaneous in step with the reliving of dusty-old-scary movie reals in my head.
And then of course….. when I finally took these thoughts captive, I thought to myself, “Will my husband ever get that I don’t want him here?”
What would I do at this point?
In all honesty…. my flesh wanted to get out of the car quickly, walk right past him, and totally ignore the fact he even existed.
Yes most definitely…. get out, walk, and ignore!!
All this before even getting out of my car. Sad but true!
Thankfully, my flesh did not win this battle though….
When I finally became brave enough to open my door, after pretending to look through my mail….. I asked God to help me please in this moment. I really needed Him. Especially since I have taught so much in my Sunday School class about grace, mercy, and love. Then add on…. I have this same teaching on my blog now. God help me, right!?!
Isn’t this what always seems to happen though? We find and pull out Scripture verses for others because we think…. they really need a particular lesson from God taught to them. So we read the Scripture aloud for their ears to hear. Teach what it means. Give examples from our own lives of how we’ve already applied it. And follow up with…. “I’ve passed that test with flying colors!”
I wonder what God thinks of us at these moments.
Well, I will tell you. He loves us so much…. He gives us another test to see if we can still apply His Word to our own lives after teaching it SO thoroughly to others.
So back to last week….
After I got out of my car, I made eye contact with my husband’s friend. Then amazingly smiled with God’s strength because I surely was unable to smile in my own strength.
What came next?
From my mouth, “Hello” and “How are you?”
And then, I waited patiently for him to respond. Even stood there for a few more moments showing kindness before making my way inside.
In those next few moments after coming inside….. I thought about God and His Word. What I have taught in Sunday School. What I have wrote on this blog.
Then after my heart being pricked by the Holy Spirit… I was able to whisper softly, “Thank you God for giving me the opportunity to live out Your Word.”
What Word from God was I thanking Him for?
“Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers.” (Ephesians 4:29)
I’m so thankful no harsh-fleshly words came from my mouth that evening. Instead, the Holy Spirit guided my actions and words once I stepped out of the car.
The truth is giving grace and being obedient can be very hard on the flesh at times. Our flesh wants to have a fight for it’s own way.
But I must say, the test humbled me. Showing grace to my husband’s friend allowed me to remember how innumerable the times have been where God has shown me this same grace… even the times I have been a bad example for others.
Thank you Jesus for Your grace!!
I want to add….
I pray for this same friend often. He use to come around a lot more often than he does now. But you know, there is something about a person giving their life to Jesus that scares unbelievers off.
When believers take a 180 degree turn from their old-worldly ways to follow Jesus, one of two reactions come from their old friends. Either, the friends get hungry for Truth too or they flee quickly out of sight…. unless of course they need a selfish favor.
In my husband’s case, the selfish favor is usually these same old-worldly friends wanting auto-mechanic work done on their vehicle for less than full price. Funny but true!
And let us not forget before we end this post, that we should also praise Jesus for this same grace He pours out on us…. even when we, as believers, are selfish too.
God bless! Love you all!!
