Gold Nugget
Verse 18-19: 18 Like a madman shooting firebrands or deadly arrows 19 is a man who deceives his neighbor and says, "I was only joking!"
Commentary
Commentary
I've had to deal with my children in scenarios much like today's "gold nugget". I found that they were often times insulting one another and then adding "just kidding" on the end just to make it okay. It's as if we found a loop hole to legalize being mean. If I were to say to Jay Leno, "Hey you sure have a big chin!", it would not count against me as being mean as long as I followed it up with, "Just kidding!" If Jay Leno was sensitive to this, the damage would have already been done. Throwing "just kidding" on the end does not make the assault void. Today's scripture is specifically about being deceptive and justifying it with "just kidding", but the overall point of doing wrong intentionally thinking you can just erase it should be of great concern to us. This sneaky way of being wicked is more prevalent than we might think. If someone wants to hurt someone else's feelings, they may mention something that would be sensitive to them, all while playing innocent. God knows the heart and is deeply wounded for the person we are hurting if we do this. When we behave like this we are actually getting two hurts for the price of one. When we hurt others and play innocent, we hurt God and them. We can no longer play this role and pretend like we are not at fault. Remember, you may fool the individual, but God always knows the intent of the heart.
Prayer
Lord, I want to be mindful of the people that I may hurt and avoid this behavior by making it seem like a small thing. Remind me that how I treat others, is also how I treat you. Amen
Prayer
Lord, I want to be mindful of the people that I may hurt and avoid this behavior by making it seem like a small thing. Remind me that how I treat others, is also how I treat you. Amen
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