Photo Source: rushtonphillips.com
I’m going to make this post short (I hope) and to the point. If the picture above is huge, it’s because I am blogging from my iPhone and my mind is somewhat scattered.
“Sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me.”
Well that’s a lie!
In the book of James, chapter 3 talks about taming the tongue. We can speak blessings out of it towards God but curse man with it just as well. This is so wrong. There is power of life and death in this little member of our body that we have. Who can tame it? Lord help us all.
Well I must say that this week had been a good one for me so far. As the saying goes, today is Freaky Friday/ the freaks come out at night Friday or something along those lines.
Anyway, I typically don’t go out the house too much on Fridays simply because of all the traffic of the weekend starting BUT today was mommy- daughter day and I took my younger girls out to see a movie a few hours ago. In route, I was rudely cut off on the highway almost causing my car and another vehicle to rub sides.
I let it go.
The closer I got to town, a guy waits to pass me and yells out a racial slur with curse words for no reason. Well I’m sure he thinks he had a reason but there was no justification for his ignorance.
I let it go though I chose to yell back “God bless you!” and then I said a quick prayer for him. ( I was in a convertible so that’s the only reason why I yelled. I could have kept my mouth closed all together but I wanted to speak life into the atmosphere. I chose to bless the guy instead of lashing back. At the same time, I allowed my girls to see that we should not do tit for tat, indulge in ignorance of foolish talk which could lead to more destructive behavior of the person who started it. You get what I’m saying.
Jesus says: “But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, (Matthew 5:44 NKJV)
Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult. On the contrary, repay evil with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing. For,”Whoever would love life
and see good days must keep their tongue from evil and their lips from deceitful speech. (1 Peter 3:9, 10 NIV)
* I’m getting to my point of why I’m writing! Just hold on. I’m longwinded and seemingly have to share just about every detail of my story! It’s a habit. Sorry!
As I was walking towards the theatre I thought about this whole sticks and stones bit. Yes my feelings were hurt because of the racial remarks and that my children had to hear it but at the same time I felt worse for the guy who said it. He’s lost. He doesn’t know Christ and I can only pray that he does not cross paths with another person who may not handle him the same way.
I also thought about how we as Christians are and will be persecuted many times over and some even killed simply because we believe in Jesus and serve him. (martyrdom)
Whether we suffer various things based upon race, creed, prejudice, envy or what have you, we clearly need to be prepared for worse. We will suffer because of Who we belong to. This world just keeps getting more and more ugly. We must be careful in what we say and how we treat others. There is enough evil being done amongst one another in general. We need not throw fuel to the flame.
May we stand out and make a difference. We are called to be the salt of the earth. We have been chosen and transformed. May we not fall into the pit of trying to repay evil back with words or action. Vengeance belongs to the Lord.
Ultimately may we reflect and remember that worse was done to Christ. It was more than sticks and stones, the beatings, the lashings, the crown of thorns and mocking, the blood, the tears, the spit and piercing in his side that crucified him. It was our sin that nailed him to the cross. He could have stopped it all yet he endured just for us to have a chance to be set free. He led by example.
May we do the same.
God bless you and keep you in every matter.
A soft answer turns away wrath, But a harsh word stirs up anger. (Proverbs 15:1 NKJV)
Living Simply In Abundance 
Great post! This is so true, it’s hard cause our flesh wants to go right back off on em 10x worse! Lol but thank God for the Holy Ghost who sustains us 🙂
Thank you Lexi. For whatever type of stones that get thrown at people in general this is exactly why we are called to crucify our flesh daily as followers of Christ. May we die to the things that keep us in spiritual bondage. Thank the Lord for sending the Holy Spirit to us. We need him always.
This image is powerful…wow! And ‘Amen’ to your message of ‘blessing’. People are so restless and desperate for peace, and ‘freaky’ Fridays seem to be ‘every day’ sometimes. Bless you for sharing His joy and truth, and have a wk’end filled with His goodness, Terra!
I agree about the picture Susan! I thought it was a great piece. You are so right about what people are looking for. I can only give it to God and ask what can I do to be a living vessel; the salt of the earth. Lives need to be impacted in the right way. God’s way! Blessings to you this weekend as well. Thank you for mine!
Amen! Let His light shine! Bless you, Terra! 🙂
Great post! And way to hold it together! God is good!
Thank you so much! God is so good. I’ve never had a temperament to lash out at people in general. I just don’t like to be mean. Thank you for the encouragement though. It helps to receive it from fellow brothers and sisters in Christ!
God bless and thank you for stopping by. Please visit again! 🙂
Will do! 🙂
🙂 Thank you!
It’s nice to see a post from an iPhone turns out so well! I’m always afraid to experiment. 🙂
I’m so sorry you and your girls were subjected to such behavior; but I’m glad you were able to put it into context in light of scripture. May we be salt and light, there are so many in need.
Thanks you Patti! This isn’t the first time I’ve blogged from my phone, I was just concerned about the picture size though I know I could have gone back in and resized it. 🙂 I appreciate your kinds words about me and my girls. The issue didn’t wreck my day at all. It just threw me off because it came out of nowhere. People will always find reasons to throw stones regardless. I just learn to filter truth from lies and how I respond. Blessings to you for extending your heart.
This world isn’t going to get any better. In fact it is going to get worse and the Bible even tells us that. We have no power over this world, but we do have power within ourselves through Christ and the way we deal with the world and the people in it. You’re an awesome example to your kids Terra. God bless! ~~Michele
Amen Michele! Thank you for sharing this. May we prepare ourselves in the Lord as we wage war in the spiritual realm while handling ourselves accordingly in the flesh. God be with us all. Thank you for your encouragement my friend. My kids are my love and I will do my best to train them up the right way even when life gets hard. Love ya and God bless you. Hugs!
Thanks for sharing your experience. I am glad that you chose to let God use you in this rather than give way for the devil to sow seeds of resentment in your heart. Blessings!
You are welcome! Thank you so much for the blessings! Thanking the Lord for directing me and I am following.
Blessings to you too!
Thank you for sharing! Thank God that he fight our battles! God Bless 🙂
Amen! God bless you too! 🙂
Thank you. Wonderful post — I just came across it while doing some searching to find info about an artist I recently heard about. I’m visiting family and friends in Atlanta and a couple of weeks ago at a friend’s house I saw a painting she has by an artist named Missionary Mary Proctor. In the painting these words are painted above the image of someone with their arms raised up to the sky.
Sticks and stones
May break my bones
But words will
Never hurt
That’s a lie Words
Hurt if spoken
Wrong
~~~
Welcome to Living Simply In Abundance firstly, Melissa. I hope you have enjoyed stopping by my page to browse around after reading the post.
I thank you kindly for your share of thoughts and your experience with the words in the painting when you visited with your friend.That’s really interesting. I would like to see something like that myself!
God bless you generously,
Terra
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This is so good! Thank you for sharing this.
Isn’t God grand?!! I thank Him for being the Light. I’m glad you stopped by and enjoyed the reading. God bless you!