In Psalm 34, there's a verse of scripture that admonishes us to pursue peace (Psalms 34:14). It was during a recent Bible study session at church that the Holy Spirit imparted some valuable insight to me regarding this Kingdom concept. Initially, when I heard the word "pursue," my thoughts went straight to "a chase." However, the Holy Spirit guided my thoughts in a different direction to better grasp what the scripture was trying to say.
To pursue peace is to intently follow peace WHEREVER it goes.
During that night's session, we focused on
"Excellence In Speech" as part of the teaching series
"Pursuing the Spirit of Excellence." As Pastor Erick pointed out,
"Our words are simply thoughts released in audible form." Whenever a thought is released in audible form, there is an intention for which it was released. Therefore, the heart--
and not just the mind--come under the scrutiny of the hearers (as well as those who hear of our words secondhand). When we release our thoughts and expose our hearts to human scrutiny, we are no longer at peace as the intentions of our words are analyzed because our concern then becomes:
- Was that THE BEST WAY to communicate my thoughts?
- Will my intentions be misunderstood?
- Did I EVEN have to say that?
- What do they think about me NOW?
- Etc, etc, etc...
But it's not just what comes out of our mouths that rob us of our peace.
The words which we allow others to release into our hearing have the potential to create chaos, as well. People can only say around us what we allow them to say, so we must be proactive.
We can not give people permission to turn us into a landfill for their evil thoughts. When in a conversation with someone that turns into a backbiting session about another person who is absent from the conversation, something just happened:
PEACE LEFT AND YOU NEED TO FOLLOW AFTER IT. If you stay and allow that toxic conversation to enter your hearing, it's guaranteed to rob you of your inner peace because your mind has been poisoned to perceive the absentee person differently than before those evil thoughts were released as words into your hearing. Therefore, it's time we grow up.
Be watchful. Not so much of the enemy and his devices, but be watchful of peace. Keep your eyes on peace because wherever peace goes, make it your intention to be right behind it.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Thanks for reading From The Heart of a Worshipper. Your comments and contributions are greatly appreciated; however, the blogger reserves the right to delete any comments that are inappropriate for display.