Daily Devotionals
Tuesday, October 22, 2024 (Aminta)
I was reading Proverbs 15 last week and the first verse jumped out at me:
“A gentle answer deflects anger, but harsh words make tempers flare.”
It’s struck me because I had just spent time having a “discussion” with my spouse that flared into something bigger and turned a little sour. (Gasp! I know! Just being honest.)
A small issue had become a big issue because the words we used were not very “gentle.”
Feeling convicted, I spent some time digging deeper into the word gentle. In the Hebrew, the word used in this verse, “rakh,” means tender or soft and it was used to describe a conciliatory response aimed at restoration.
It’s about so much more than just a quiet tone of voice! This word for gentle describes a heart that is soft and willing to mend what is broken.
In essence, what the proverb is referring to is the condition of our hearts! Matthew 12:34 says it this way: “For out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks.”
This begs the question:
Do I have a soft heart that is open to forgiveness and works on fixing the problem?
Or, do I have a hard heart that is set on proving a point and thus making it worse?
Whatever the desire of your heart is, so shall your words will be!
Friends, I felt so sad at the lack of gentleness in my words… realizing it meant I have some softening of the heart to do. So, I prayed and asked God to give me a tender heart that desires to gentle.
Ezekiel 36:26-27 tells us how that softening is accomplished:
“And I will give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit in you. I will take out your stony, stubborn heart and give you a tender, responsive heart. And I will put my Spirit in you so that you will follow my decrees and be careful to obey my regulations.”
The secret to a “gentle” heart is that we have the Holy Spirit helping us soften. We allow God to humble us, change us and redirect us by his power working in us. We can’t do it on our own!
Sweet Friend, if today you find your words to be harsh, it is a great opportunity to pray this prayer and ask God to help make you gentle.
Almighty God,
Thank you for loving me so much and always being a tender-hearted father to me. Thank you for showing me what it means to be gracious, merciful, and soft-hearted. Please send me your Spirit, and help me soften the areas of my heart that are hard. I desire to be tender in my relationships so I can shine your light to those around me. Grant me your power that I may humble myself and soften.
Amen
We are better together
Mint
PS…when my daughter was younger we had a saying before school: “soft heart, tough girl.” She was bullied and it wasn’t easy to stay soft in the harsh world of mean girls… but it was a lesson that has made her so strong now. When the “hard” hearted people seem to be winning, we can choose to stay soft, trusting that will be what makes us truly tough in the end. God can use soft hearts for his glory!
“A gentle answer deflects anger, but harsh words make tempers flare.”
It’s struck me because I had just spent time having a “discussion” with my spouse that flared into something bigger and turned a little sour. (Gasp! I know! Just being honest.)
A small issue had become a big issue because the words we used were not very “gentle.”
Feeling convicted, I spent some time digging deeper into the word gentle. In the Hebrew, the word used in this verse, “rakh,” means tender or soft and it was used to describe a conciliatory response aimed at restoration.
It’s about so much more than just a quiet tone of voice! This word for gentle describes a heart that is soft and willing to mend what is broken.
In essence, what the proverb is referring to is the condition of our hearts! Matthew 12:34 says it this way: “For out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks.”
This begs the question:
Do I have a soft heart that is open to forgiveness and works on fixing the problem?
Or, do I have a hard heart that is set on proving a point and thus making it worse?
Whatever the desire of your heart is, so shall your words will be!
Friends, I felt so sad at the lack of gentleness in my words… realizing it meant I have some softening of the heart to do. So, I prayed and asked God to give me a tender heart that desires to gentle.
Ezekiel 36:26-27 tells us how that softening is accomplished:
“And I will give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit in you. I will take out your stony, stubborn heart and give you a tender, responsive heart. And I will put my Spirit in you so that you will follow my decrees and be careful to obey my regulations.”
The secret to a “gentle” heart is that we have the Holy Spirit helping us soften. We allow God to humble us, change us and redirect us by his power working in us. We can’t do it on our own!
Sweet Friend, if today you find your words to be harsh, it is a great opportunity to pray this prayer and ask God to help make you gentle.
Almighty God,
Thank you for loving me so much and always being a tender-hearted father to me. Thank you for showing me what it means to be gracious, merciful, and soft-hearted. Please send me your Spirit, and help me soften the areas of my heart that are hard. I desire to be tender in my relationships so I can shine your light to those around me. Grant me your power that I may humble myself and soften.
Amen
We are better together
MintPS…when my daughter was younger we had a saying before school: “soft heart, tough girl.” She was bullied and it wasn’t easy to stay soft in the harsh world of mean girls… but it was a lesson that has made her so strong now. When the “hard” hearted people seem to be winning, we can choose to stay soft, trusting that will be what makes us truly tough in the end. God can use soft hearts for his glory!
