For most of my life I’ve been whisker-free. I’ve grown a beard a couple times, but never really liked the way it felt. More importantly, kisses from my wife are few and far between when I’m sporting the scruffy look. She hates the feel of whiskers on her face and even cringes when some actor with a 5 o’clock shadow kisses his girl in a movie we’re watching.
So, to keep Ana happy and my face beardless, every morning I dutifully shave those little hairs away. There’s one problem, however, with scraping a sharp blade over my face each day – sometimes I slip! In a moment of inattention, still groggy from a night’s sleep, I press a little too hard or move the blade wrong, leaving myself cut and bleeding. In fact, I nailed myself pretty good just this morning.
Unfortunately, sometimes in our dealing with others, we make the same mistake. Often unintentionally our words cut a little deep or scrape a little too close, leaving the person we’re talking to sliced to the core, hurt and bleeding. Often we don’t even realize what we’ve done, but that doesn’t make it hurt any less.
Solomon addressed this tendency when he said, “Some people make cutting remarks…” (Proverbs 12:18 NLT). But he didn’t leave it there, adding, “but the words of the wise bring healing.”
Words can cut and cause pain, but they can also, when guided by Spirit and spoken in love, soothe and heal.. My prayer is that God will give each of us “his words of wisdom, so that [we] know how to comfort the weary.” (Isaiah 50:4) May the words we speak be to those who hear “like honey – sweet to the soul and healthy for the body.” (Proverbs 16:24).
God bless and Happy Sabbath!