17:3 - the Lord tests the heart. None of us know what is truly at the bottom of our hearts. We think we do, but God alone knows. I have a friend who has been in multiple combat situations and he always says the hardest part of coming home from war is knowing what you are truly capable of (good and evil). The truth is, we need to trust that God knows us best and therefore we need to ask Him to test our hearts and refine us. There are things in me I am not sure are good or bad and I can either guess or I can ask God to help me see them as He sees them. I have to go to Him and ask Him if it is something to be restrained or something to be celebrated.
17:9 - Whoever would foster love covers over an offense, but whoever repeats the matter separates close friends. Even retelling the "story" so someone else knows is destructive. Let matters that separate or harm rest. Don't even mention them again.
17:15 - Acquitting the guilty and condemning the innocent - the Lord detests them both. For those of us in any kind of teaching or leadership position we need to remember this. It is wrong to let everyone off the hook when we teach or lead and it is wrong to make everyone feel guilty. We need to do a good job of leading the guilty to feel enough guilt to change and we need to celebrate those who are doing well. The church does a poor job when we focus only on guilt or only on grace. We should love people enough to lead the guilty to grace and then to celebrate them when they get there.
17:19a - Whoever loves a quarrel loves sin; I used to say I love a good fight. Growing up with little man's disease and being an I/D or D/I on the DiSC profile I love a challenge and I love being able to passionately throw my entire self into things. So, when a fight came a long I loved it. I came across this verse and realized that while I can love a good challenge I have to be careful not to love a good fight. Fighting hurts people, even when we don't mean to. We have to learn to walk in peace whenever possible. God will give us great challenges to stir our souls, so we can afford to avoid the worldly ones that harm others.
17:27 - Those who have knowledge use words with restraint, and those who have understanding are even-tempered. It is like Solomon has already said, The more words, the more likely you are to sin. Wise people don't have to speak a lot, because what they speak is worth every word.
18:2 - Fools find no pleasure in understanding but delight in airing their own opinions. We are a generation of fools to a large degree. We have been raised to believe that what we think is the most important thing AND everyone in the world should care what we think. The truth is what we think is only a part, a small part, of any circumstance. We would do better to listen and try to understand than to tell people what we think. Our opinions are so often not found in contemplation, prayer and research anyway.
18:9 - One who is slack in his work is a close relative of one who destroys. This is especially true of leaders. When we are slack, half-hearted, easily distracted in the work of leading people and leading ourselves so we can lead people, we unintentionally destroy the work God intends. There are few things harder to overcome in a church than leaders who fail to follow through and live up to the high calling laid out before them. When we can't do the things necessary for Christian growth how can anyone who is following us? When we can't strive hard without getting distracted or just giving up, how can we expect anyone behind us will? We need to become people who are not slack at all, but who do whatever is required so others can come home.
18:12b - ...humility comes before honor. Tough, because I world has said you can have instant honor. You can get rich quick, get big quick, get to the top with one leap. We have been raised to believe we would get "there" if we could just get a lucky break. We need to choose to do the hard, dirty work first. Dirty work comes before a beautiful house.
18:13 - To answer before listening - that is folly and shame.
I also spent some time looking through Ezra about fasting during trying times and Malachi about God's call for us to test Him by honoring Him with our tithes and offerings.
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