"Oh Be Careful Little Tongue What You Say..."

If I had nothing else to do besides blog, I'd have prepared some lengthy post on a topic that has recently become another teaching moment. Instead, suffice it to say, love and respect belong in the blog world too. How easy it is to hide behind our keyboard, to project some image of who we might want to be but are not, to speak in arrogance and conceit, or even to attempt to speak the truth, but not in love.

I don't claim to be the wisest, though I would like to say I desire wisdom. "If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given him." James 1:5

But here is the observation:

When "encouraging" one another (which is scriptural) it ought to be done with love, and a respect for the household to which it is sent. For those reading who profess to be Christians, so many understand and agree with the husband/father having biblical authority in the home as well. (Let's understand here that I mean BIBLICAL authority, not something dysfunctional and extra-biblical.) That being said, caution ought to be exercised when discussing matters of what the Lord has taught one another, where the Holy Spirit has thus led the family, and how the husband/father is leading his wife and children.

If a family is presumably walking with the Lord, professing to love the One who died for them, and endeavoring to obey the teaching of the Word of God, dare I accuse them of believing a lie? Dare I approach a young person without the consent of their authority and even suggest that their parents are teaching them a lie? When you answer these questions, sift it through the commands to "preach the Word", and also through the understanding that the father is the head of the home. Do remember that I mentioned the example is a believing family.

And just for contrast, this week Jenna won a blog giveaway, and the woman giving the prize wanted verbal permission from Jenna's parents before the gift would be sent. Wow. There was a teaching moment...for Jenna, she was encouraged by the godly behavior seen in this older woman who respected her parents. For me, I was thankful for the respect shown to the authority in our home.

By the way, in the first example when Jenna was told she was being taught a lie (by her parents), it was also a teaching moment, though perhaps not what the woman hurling the accusation would have wanted. She and her husband have justified their behavior, but Jenna has learned something even greater. Love and respect.