Come in MY Courts...

Were you ever told, "If you cannot say anything nice, then don't say anything at all?" I know I was!

I hammered out a rare rant on my facebook status this week addressing the hate and vitriolic rhetoric that seems to permeate our country today. It makes me so sad to see good people use harsh, hateful words toward other people. Regardless of what "side" of the issue on which one finds him or herself, I personally find nothing redeeming about expressions of stupidity, idiocy, hate, physical violence, and the like.

So why does it bother me so much? Why am I all of a sudden crusading against hate?

I think it coincides with a movement by the Holy Spirit this week which led me to download a new worship album by the band Deluge called Unshakable. One song in particular, Come In My Courts, has truly touched my soul. The song captures the words the Lord would say to us, His people, about His longing for us to seek Him out. More importantly, the lyrics express His love for us.

Welcome in... the way is open,
Come on in...
You are My temple, My tabernacle,
I've chosen you.

Do you see that last line?... I've chosen YOU. I've CHOSEN you.

And then...

Come abide... my Spirit's calling,
Deep inside...
You're My beloved,
There is none other... I love more than you.

The Lord tells us He loves us, that WE are his beloved, and that his Spirit calls us in every second of every day because we are His. He loves us sooooo much.

And just as you begin to understand how incredibly valuable you are to the Lord and start seeing His hand reaching out to yours, someone (who presumes to know God) comes along and calls you a misdirected, lying S.O.B. Ahhh, you can just feel the love.

I guess there are two different lessons here for me.

First, I cannot base my worth on what humans think of me...bad OR good. I was made in God's image (Gen 1: 26; Acts 17:29a). I do make mistakes regularly (Romans 3:23), but only by God's grace am I saved (Eph 2:8). As the song lyrics say, "You're My beloved, There is none other... I love more than you."

Second, I need to do a better job letting people know how harmful their words can be and that they should be using their words for good. Ephesians 4:29 says "Don't say anything that would hurt another person. Instead, speak only what is good so that you can give help wherever it is needed. That way, what you say will help those who hear you." There are more than enough times when I can't find a nice word to say about someone. :-) I admit that. So I'm going to do my best to keep it zipped and remember the first point I made above... that every person is a child of God and made in His image.

Ron Hutchcraft wrote:

"Our angry, or reckless, or critical words are bullets - and it's all too easy to pull that trigger. In fact, it takes the help of God and our personal discipline to keep from firing off a round of wounding words. But once you pull that trigger, there's no way to get that round back. Long after you've forgotten what you said, that person is still feeling the hurt of it, still hearing it over and over again in their heart. The words take a moment; the wounds can last for years."

And Deluge reminds us of God's words to us: "There is none other... I love more than you." He wants us in His courts! Thank goodness!!!