Human Decency and Devouring the Sound Bite

Consider the source.

Don’t believe everything you hear. In the hallways. On the playground.

One of the most important relationships in your world can be the one nurtured with and by God. It feeds and nurture all the others.

Really. Truthfully. Lightly.

Stay hungry. For words of authenticity, encouragement and discernment will be your best honed ability as you navigate rough waters. And we all do. Young and old. Short and tall. Smart or not smart. Ugly or Pretty.

Stick with strict principles and the call won’t come to visit the principal. 😳But, hey, we all fail at times. To do the right thing. The best thing. And we hall off and punch the bully in the nose. For his hurtful words, words that bugged us. So we punched. Back.

And find ourselves face to face. With the guy who holds our destiny in his hands. Or we think holds our destiny in his hands. We begin our explanations, reasons, our narrative of why we did what we did.

Gosh darn it. That darn devil was there all along, to egg us on, provoke our anger, to stir the pot of our inner vulnerabilities.

And. We slugged him. Back. What we should have remembered in the heat of the moment was our great Consoler and Paraclete never leaves us alone, so we really did not need to fight back.

We are human. He is super human. We may not know the very best way to defend ourselves. He does. He suggests how to defend ourselves with minute to minute mercy and kindness. He provides us with quiet assistance against those who accuse you. Accuse you of being weak, wrong or less than.

He never abandons you.

He teaches you.

To stick up for yourself. It is ok. And when and if you need to punch back, understands the why of whys and forgives you. But not before the lesson becomes embedded in your soul for good. But. Only for good. Not for bad. He provides the comfort of our moral compass.

He suggest you look at the bully in a different light. A light of understanding. A light of gentler regard. The bully is the devil in disguise. He sometimes attempts to “get in our head” causing great self doubt and frustration.

It hurts.

You punch. With fist or a mouthful or words. Ugh. Why did that fly out of my mouth, why did my fist land on the bully’s nose? And here I sit. Explaining myself. Ugh.

If you enter into a chat room, let it be your silent chat room with the Lord. He is always welcoming. Always ready to suggest a better way. He is your protector, your advocate. Counselor. Teacher. Of a better way.

Your ally. Your best ally. Transparent and authentic. (pf) In the moment of trial that lands you in the principal’s office. He is there with you helping you to figure it out. Really. Truthfully.Lightly. Figure it out.

In your moment of trial He provides pardon and strength. Pardon and strength. He understood, understands weakness in ways many of us will never fully understand. He provides a timber of tenderness and warmth of love.(pf) in our so called perceived worst possible moments.

The punch.

The kick.

The push.

The push back.

The means words.

The word vomit.

The grab the phone and shoot.

A picture. A pic.

A bad pic.

An intimidation pic.

He corrects our perspective. He never humiliates us. Never. He desires for us that which we may not know we desire in ourselves.

A closeness. To ourselves. To another. Rather than through hurt. He implored us to extend a hand of grace and kindness. To the big bully devil you ask? No can’t do it.Too mad. Too angry.

He is our ultimate defender so we do not always feel as if we have to be constantly “en guard”. Tiring to say the least. Energy draining even. That is one of the bully devil’s tactics, wear you out so you do not care anymore.

Jesus will never let that happen. Cause you to lose energy so that you will not care about another. It is much too important to care for another. Even if and when we “don’t feel like it”. He builds up our spiritual strength in a way that no bully in the world can match.

How?

He conveys certainty. The wonderful certainty.(PF). He is our advocate. He is our lawyer.He stands squarely by our side through thick and thin. The Paraclete, the Holy Spirit is always present.For us. In our darkest moments. In our brightest moments. He quietly makes the suggestions for betterment. In the face of the devilish accusations that may be slung our way. Through relentless slings and arrows.

Someone who is ready for our call. Our call. Answers the call. Never drops the call. And calls on us to be better. To lower the fist.To momentarily eat our hurtful words. Consider where they come from deep in our core. And choose silence and gentleness in the face of the devil. The bully.

So the next place we are called to is not the principal’s office, but to the call of assistance of another. The relationship grows because it has been nurtured by the sound bites of goodness. Not the sound bits of desperation, one-up-manship or devilish competition.

When you make a fist, it can make your heart work harder.

This can be both good and bad. It depends on whether or not we call on someone for help. And whether or not they answer the call. Stick with the call.

Don’t drop the call.

Don’t drop the ball.

Abandoning us in our worst moments so that we feel the only way out is to punch back. Shoot ourselves in the foot. Scream ugly words at another.

Do we call on the Holy Spirit? As our ally? It is good advice to learn from a good and kind counselor. Who never gives up on you so in turn you never give up on you. Jesus does this daily lesson by speaking. Whispers in our ears. In our minds. Good words.

Wonderful words. Wonderful sound bites worth devouring. He speaks of the Father in Heaven. He implored us to remember the good. The good. And not the bad. He welcomes and suggest to us to recall the most important in life. (pf) Within us. The tribunals of life will come again and again. He gently encourages and corrects us to do better.

Build our relationships with each other up. Not devilishly down. Away from the feeling of wanting to punch another square in the nose.

Hurt people hurt people. Healed people heal people.

Relying on the ultimate counselor advisor will keep you out of the principal’s office. Guiding you to take your seat at His table of ongoing growth, love and light. Resist the temptations of devouring another at the expense of oneself. Appreciate individual gifts that can be generously shared with an open hand and not a closed fist.