A tranquil heart is life to the body, but passion is rottenness to the bones.
Proverbs 14:29, 30
I'm still plowing through Luther's commentary on Galatians, but when I have some extra time (like when Isaiah takes a good nap or sleeps a little later in the mornings, for example) I also try to read the chapter in Proverbs that corresponds with the day of the month. And today is the 14th, so I read Proverbs 14.
The Holy Spirit convicted my heart on several occasions, but the two verses above "spoke" the loudest.
I remember one time in college when I ardently defended myself. I was quite proud of how I stood up for myself and "won". I told my friend about the situation (I hope he doesn't remember this) when we met to study for a final together. I now cringe when I think of how I handled myself, and of more recent episodes of similar nature. I can get pretty worked up about things. It's not usually temper that gets me, though that can happen, too. No for me it's the soap box issues that push my buttons. I get all fired up about some topic and I don't stop to think through things before I start spouting off some supposedly brilliant rhetoric.
How many times have I run off at the mouth, proud of how I'm defending (supposedly) truth and justice and righteousness, to later realize that I was really thinking about myself and how grand I sounded and how well I communicated. Hmmm. What foolishness.
I have been well-taught how to listen. My profs in grad school worked really hard on that! But I think that I still have a lot of learning to do. I think that I still need to learn how to think through things, how to organize my thoughts, how to calmly with conviction present those thoughts without rolling over someone to prove my point, how to with tranquility and confidence speak the truth and not further my own folly.
I'm sure there is tons more to learn from these verses, but that's what I'm chewing on right now.
1 comment:
i can completely relate! how convicting.
Post a Comment