Learning to Simply Reject & Delete

I am weary of the words we use in the name of truth that are not truth at all. They are just rude or mean or bad mannered. I have been craving wisdom & graciousness. Don't you love when God places a thought in your mind & then you hear the theme repeated through other people? Last week at church I heard the Pastor say exactly what I have been thinking which was I think email & blogs are used carelessly & thoughtlessly at times. Words without wisdom or grace. Just because we are angry or hurt or bitter does not excuse bad manners. Ever. Attacking people is never kind nor helpful. Most of us are guilty of it, I know I am. I recently wrote a brilliant but scathing post that would have brought injury & insult to a dear friend that I intended to flippantly & carelessly publish, although I never would have considered saying those things to his face. It is way too easy to spew out a bunch of toxic damaging words & then hit the send button without any thought of being on the receiving end. I instead decided to use a little discernment & restraint & chose to put away my soapbox, hit delete & keep my rant to myself. Churches & families have been carelessly destroyed in the name of "expressing our feelings". We need to always stop and apply some common sense, wisdom & tact. We are quick to defend the world & its ways & even quicker to tear down our own brothers & sisters in Christ. Some people have the mistaken idea that because I have not attended church religiously (hehehe) the past few years & because I "unschool" my children, that it means I have no boundaries or beliefs or faith or a love for God. Or maybe have the impression I live my life as a free for all & my children are allowed to do & see anything. They are not. I guard their hearts & minds & take great care in deciding what is right or wrong for each of them in accordance with their personalities & weaknesses. I try to provide support for their interests & strengths as well, but good manners & how they treat others are always most important, being aware of the world & the feelings & needs of the people around them, not just their own happiness & freedom to do or say whatever they feel. I do not subscribe to that belief. I know some people assume they know what I believe & that it is wrong. I have even been tagged a "tree hugging New-Age guru". LOL They don't even know me, have never had a conversation with me about my beliefs or asked me about my background or my faith or past ministries. Assumptions about people always hurt. I thought we learned that in Sunday School when we were 6. For any of us to ever judge another is wrong. I love my God and His Word & though it may come as a surprise, I also love His people, despite my experiences & am hurt beyond understanding when they attack each other or just carelessly toss out insensitive responses. I recently had the opportunity to decide whether or not to publish a flippant comment on a blog post. I felt it was the kind of careless statement that would hurt someone's feelings or make them feel stupid to know someone felt that way, so I rejected it. It felt so good! I thought wouldn't it be WONDERFUL if we could click the "reject this comment" button on so many things that are said to us. If you know that email is full of poison, for goodness sakes don't open it. Just delete them. I think I am going to install a Mental Reject Comment Button & use it more often in my life. Throughout every day. Reject or publish. I just wish I also had more opportunities to protect people I love as well! Have had this on my heart all week & then at church this was the scripture...
"they are darkened in their understanding...be made new in the attitude of your minds...in your anger do not sin...do not give the devil a foothold...do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, BUT ONLY WHAT IS HELPFUL FOR BUILDING OTHERS UP ACCORDING TO THEIR NEEDS that it may benefit those who will listen...do not grieve the Holy Spirit...get rid of all bitterness, rage, anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as Christ forgave you. "
Whew. Got it, Lord. So I ask forgiveness for anytime I have used this computer or my words in a way that was ever hurtful or slanderous, I hope I haven't but am sure I probably have. I love God's word, always have, always will, and obedience is very important to me even when it doesn't show. "They will know we are Christians by our...T-shirts or how much Christian music we listen to"? I miss Real Truth. Not what we call Truth, not a license to rabidly attack God's people or be radical in our views & how we express them. Do we really want that kind of "truth" shot back at us? Do unto others. I hope I will always remember that there is a PERSON sitting in front of the screen reading my words, a heart & a soul that can either be encouraged & lifted up or destroyed & crushed. Mean people suck. We need more laughter, not tears! We need to honor, not hurt. We need more love & peace, not ugliness. I also believe that I will answer for any time I was a stumbling block for a non-believer or a Christian struggling with their faith. I know it is very stylish to "Be Real", be genuine, the whole Blue Like Jazz kind of thing. (loved that book by the way, just an example) But I see a lot less of a command to be true to yourself in scripture than I see us admonished to show restraint & self control & kindness & love that we don't feel. Hard stuff. Boring stuff. I am pretty sure God is more pleased on those rare occasions when I swallow my words than when I weave a tapestry of colorful metaphors & obscenities & show my talent in the use of the English language to rival any sailor's. "If you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all" was a simple philosophy I need to follow more. My friend laughed when we were discussing this stuff because I said I missed good old fashioned masks & facades. But I do. I miss good manners. Mostly my own.