Sticks and Stones, and Broken Bones

Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me...

So the saying went when I was growing up. We all know of course, that this is a childish phrase, and it is very far from the truth.  Sticks and stones can hurt our body, but words can hurt our soul.
 
There are many clever sayings that encourage us to put past hurts, past encounters, as well as past transgressors...in the past.

 Ecclessiastes 7:21 "Also take not heed unto all words that are spoken, lest thou hear thy servant curse thee; 22) for oftentimes also thine own heart knoweth that thou thyself likewise hast cursed others."

You may not have 'cursed' others as we consider the word curse, but at times we all tend to have thoughts--yes, unkind thoughts about others--and those thoughts do sometimes find themselves expressed in words.  Consequently, take account that we need to give others room for complaint against ourselves.

 Philippians 3:13  "Brethren, I count not myself yet to have laid hold: but one thing I do, forgetting the things which are behind, and stretching forward to the things which are before..."

The Apostle Paul was a man with a past.  He had persecuted the church, condemned Christians to prison, and even unto death, but that all changed when he met Jesus on the road to Damascus...


Paul was a committed person.  He, from what we can read through the scriptures, didn't do anything half way.  It was all or nothing; either for or against.  When he found he was wrong, he did a complete turn.

There are several things we need to carry away from this.   Be careful what you say.  You cannot control what others say--kind or unkind.  However, we should strive always to control, or better yet let Jesus control what we say. Keep our own thoughts and words pleasant.



We should move on.  We need, for our own self, to move past the hurts, the poor encounters, and the transgressors of the past.  Whether our failures, or the failure of others, move on.  Other wise we allow these things to control our future, at least in part.

Philippians 3:14 "I press on toward the goal unto the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus."

Our ultimate goal is to be fit for the 'high calling' in Christ Jesus; the  high calling of heaven.  Heaven--a prepared place for a prepared people...



Philippians 3:10 " that I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, becoming conformed unto his death; 11) if by any means I may attain unto the resurrection from the dead."

Hallelujah!  What a Savior!