Communication
If you are a writer, I hope to encourage you with this piece to keep writing. If you are a public speaker may you be encouraged to keep speaking. Let your written pieces and your speeches be seasoned with grace (writing about or speaking the truth in love).
I love writing. I love to encourage others through written pieces whether poetry, articles, mini plays or inspiring quotes.
I love the gift that I have been blessed with and the transportation used to share my gift.
I love sharing the pieces I write or the work of other authors which has ministered to me. Why do I share them? I share them because I know the transforming power of Biblical advice to those who recognise that they cannot make it on their own who are willing to accept help.
So why would I use the word 'hate' in the heading. Well, I thought about, 'dislike' and 'struggle' but it didn't quite bring home the message I intended on sharing. 'Hate' was the word I needed because the Bible says that we should cling to what is good and hate what is evil.
The tongue is a powerful weapon that can either edify or destroy.
The tongue is like a dagger that can pierce through the heart.
The tongue is a spark that can set the fire alight and burn down an entire village.
The tongue can be used in a destructive way as follows:
'A false statement made here or backbiting there, a vicious remark somewhere else, and relationships are destroyed.'
Colossians 4:6 says, 'Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.'
Now that's the tricky part for me why I use the word 'hate'. You see, when words are used inappropriately, hatred can come from both the person using those words as well as the person or group of people hearing those words. That is why I share so much on the topic of forgiveness.
If we don't embrace forgiveness we tend to want the person who use words inappropriately (whether deliberately or unintentionally) to pay for their sins in a tangible way. Often that means severance of friendships or even blood relations.
We are not satisfied unless we get revenge. And even when we take revenge in our own hands we are still not satisfied until that person no longer exists.
Unfortunately, the person who seeks to avenge themselves will never be at peace because they always wishes ill of such a person and their anger will never be satisfied even after the perpetrator is in the grave. That's hatred.
I have been hated for:
- Trying to help maintain marriages.
- Speaking out for the voiceless among us (children who are hurting from parental neglect of one form or another).
- Trying to maintain the peace in our homes.
- Choosing to follow Biblical principles in training up my own child and maintaining my own marriage.
I have also been hated because the name does not match the face of the author and the soul was deposited in the body I occupy, covered by the skin that protects it. It gets depressing from here on so I'll spare you the rest, with the exception of the other point I wanted to make:
I very often spend a long time contemplating whether or not to share a piece in the event it just might offend a friend, a relative or even a stranger reading what I have written.
Due to the fact that our words can edify or destroy I do not want to share pieces that may offend others (especially in this 'politically correct' age that we live in) but if I don't share the pieces I'm convicted to share, I then feel guilty.
I feel guilt knowing that by refusing to sharing that one piece I have removed the potential for God to use that piece to speak to the hearts of others and in return save a life, a marriage, a child from losing their childhood, a relationship from being damaged or a leader from giving up.
There is always that possibility but unless I share, the opportunity won't be given.
I hate the fact that I don't have control over the way others receive what I say through my written pieces. I share an experience and someone takes it personal and see it as me pointing the finger, being judgemental or self-righteous. I hate being called names but I know it is inevitable once I start sharing in the public domain.
So what must I do?
Well, I can encourage others to repent of their sins but I can't make them do it. They have a right to their opinions and although their feedback might not be gracious but hate-filled, I can still search within to see how I can grow through such feedback.
Once, I am found in the wrong based on Biblical principles then I must repent. I cannot make others forgive me regardless of how many times I seek their forgiveness. It is hard on the mind and emotions when you recognise your sin, apologise but apology is not accepted.
I've had to experience that on a few occasions and it is debilitating. But as I said before we cannot control how others respond. Therefore, we are only responsible for our own actions. How we respond will determine the position of our hearts.
Hating the gift means that I will either hide it and no longer use it or I may use it unwisely and that would make me a wicked servant like the one referred to in Luke 19:20-27:
'Then another servant came and said, "Sir, here is your mina; I have kept it laid away in a piece of cloth. I was afraid of you, because you are a hard man. You take out what you did not put in and reap what you did not sow."
'His master replied, "I will judge you by your own words, you wicked servant! You knew, did you, that I am a hard man, taking out what I did not put in, and reaping what I did not sow? Why then didn't you put my money on deposit, so that when I came back, I could have collected it with interest?"
'Then he said to those standing by, 'Take his mina away from him and give it to the one who has ten minas."...'
God has gifted me and to not use my gifts wisely, is to be a wicked servant. I want to honour God with my sharing where my speech and my actions are delivered with grace, seasoned with salt. If I deliver what He has laid on my heart in that manner, He can use that sharing to draw others onto Himself. See Matthew 5:13-16.
Therefore, I must repent. Being able to see the log in my own eyes and remove it, puts me in a better position to see more clearly and be able to help my brother or sister take the speck out of their own eyes.
The journey continues...
Your sister in Christ,
Janice S Ramkissoon.
(6th July 2014)
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