Ephesians 4:29

"Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. "

Recently this particular verse has been affecting me and as such I think I have chosen to talk less. I felt that not talking or talking less would do others more good than bad. But later I knew this was not right, and I’m thankful to God that His words showed me otherwise. I discovered that my apprehension of speaking was not because I would hurt others, but rather I would be disliked by my friends for being straightforward and honest.

Here’s an excerpt from Four Pillars of a Man’s Heart:

The final pages of Scripture describe Jesus at the end of time. The picture is not soft. The colours are not pastel. This is not a portrait of "gentle Jesus, meek and mild." Our Lord sits astride a mighty white war horse. His eyes are a flame of fire. His robe is splattered with blood. His own. He carries a sharp sword. On His thigh He has a name written: "King of kings and Lord of lords.” He is called “Faithful and True, and in righteousness He wages war."

Never before have I depicted Jesus in this manner. Then the book continues with 2 Corinthians 10:3-5 a few pages after:

For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.

I see how perfect God’s standard is and how far I am in attaining that criterion. As a Christian, I shouldn’t be preoccupied about always being “nice” and “agreeable” before everyone. Actually, like how the book describes, I should be “Appropriately honest. Truthful, not ugly. Firm, not antagonistic. Persistent, not discourteous.”

It’s difficult to say the hard thing when it’s right and appropriate, friendships often become soured as a result. But when I think about it, Jesus did it regularly. He didn’t come to earth to be popular among us. He said it clearly Himself that He did not come to bring peace on earth but a sword. What then, is peace? How is it that there can be discord even among brothers and sisters who have the same Abba Father? What is our ultimate aim as Christians? To bring peace among people, believers and non-believers alike? It seems not.

I really need to learn to speak properly with the correct attitude and at the right time, and also dare to speak up. It's hard to be a nice person, but it's harder to be a "bad" person, especially to those dear to me. Perhaps this verse can become my prayer:

她开口就发智慧，她舌上有仁慈的法则。箴31:26

This topic is getting heavy :( On a lighter note, my new mattress just arrived today :) My old one was thrown away, and as I didn’t have a bed last night to sleep on, I was allowed to sleep with my parents :) I realised that I was praying in a strange position – squeezed between the two of them while they were asleep, haha.

Looking forward to the mission trip meeting tomorrow night. I enjoyed last week’s “getting to know each other” session that we’ll continue tomorrow :) I’m not sure about the rest, but I remember being almost in a drunken state of smiling, not really laughing out loud type, to everyone’s random jokes and comments. Wanxin was saying it feels like we were back in the days of 主日学. Though I haven attended that, but I’m sure it was filled with joy and laughter :) Ok, time to get back to some purposeful idling, haha.