Proverbs 16:1 “The preparations of the heart in man, and the answer of the tongue, is from the LORD.”

This verse had meant nothing to me before the year 2023. Could this verse really be true? Could what people say to me, good or bad, whether I agree or not, whether right or not… really be “from the Lord”?

But this has been a transformative verse for me in many ways in my life, and surely really helpful for any Christian navigating life as we interact with other people.

This verse isn’t saying that everything that everyone says to us is right or true or good… but it is teaching us how we should consider, treat and handle what’s said to us.

Because beyond the interactions themselves, God is doing a far greater work in our lives, and he’s going to use all sorts of interactions we have to change us and work good in and bless our lives.

And if we struggled to understand this verse… there is a pictorial example of this verse in 2 Samuel 16, where David is on the run from his son Absalom who’s trying to kill him, and a guy called Shimei is cursing him, throwing stones at him, falsely accusing him all the way on his retreat out of Jerusalem with his men to safety.

He’s kicking David while he’s down.

… As they’re going and this guy is hurling non stop abuse, David’s men of war naturally want to go and lop his head off, but David says no, don’t do it and he says “so let him curse, because the LORD hath said unto him, Curse David. Who shall then say, Wherefore hast thou done so?”

Like David did, an incredible way to look at our interactions with other people in many different contexts is that it’s from the Lord. If someone is cursing us, maybe that’s something we need to hear, that just may be the exact thing God will use to effect the change he needs to make in our heart and life.

My natural reaction is to… react! And I’ve been known for my ability to respond sharply and behave in a tit for tat manner. And then that shows great spiritual immaturity on my part and that there’s something wrong in my heart too. And that’s why God’s letting it happen… because God is wanting to change me first and foremost, after all, that’s what the Christian life is all about.

!! Remember… that what is coming out of the mouth is coming from the heart first of all! As Jesus said “for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh.” It’s amazing what’s lying in our heart like a coiled spring waiting for someone to say something to bring it out!

So this verse is really quite incredible. It changes the way we handle our interactions with people. Yes the person having a go at us may have a point… but may not as well. But either way, God can use that for our good if we will let him.

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