Page 10 - MyFaith June 2016 - WEB

GRASSROOTS

A
GENTLE
ANSWER

BY ANGUS BUCHAN

We are living in turbulent times and we don’t have to be a prophet one another rather than discourage one another.
to see that. Everywhere we look there is anger, there is confusion, Sarcasm is the lowest form of wit, because you are always sarcas-
there are malicious words being spoken without thought, and tic at someone else’s cost and not your own. We need to be very
there’s a lot of hurt taking place. careful how we speak. The Bible tells us in The Book of James that
the tongue is almost like a spark that can start a forest fire. We
Early this morning while praying about using this subject as a have seen that happen in our own beloved South Africa. A foolish,
column, I felt the Holy Spirit direct me to go to The Book of John 8, careless word spoken can cause so much pain, damage and could
and to read the story of the adulterous woman and the Pharisees. even cause a revolution.
The story is very simple. The Pharisees brought a woman caught
in adultery to Jesus, not primarily for justice, but to try and catch But those of us who are ambassadors for Jesus Christ need to start
out the Lord so that they could eventually accuse Him and kill Him. to practice using gentle answers, especially when we are provoked
Is it not amazing that so often harsh words are just the cover up unfairly. People will do that especially if they know that we are
for alternative reasons and motives which are unseen at the time? followers of Christ. They will try to manipulate and make us angry,
The Pharisees came to Jesus and they said, “According to the law but we must respond the same way as our Master, because He
of Moses this woman should be stoned, because she was caught says we need to turn the other cheek and go the extra mile. It is not
in the act of adultery, but what do you say?” Jesus stooped down an easy thing to do, especially when those people that are doing it
and He wrote on the ground with his finger (we don’t know what to us are purposefully trying to cause us to deny our stand for God.
He wrote, but He was totally calm and at peace). They continued to May the Lord bless you as you follow in His footsteps.
provoke Him and question Him. Eventually He stood up and said in
John 8:7 (NKJV), “He who is without sin among you, let him throw
a stone at her first.” Then He stooped down again and commenced
to write on the ground.

Proverbs 15:1 says “A soft answer turns away wrath, But a harsh
word stirs up anger.” Jesus then asked the woman, “Where are your
accusers?” She said, “There are none!” He replied, “I don’t accuse
you either, go and sin no more! Your sins are forgiven.” Like never
before we need to watch what we say. I read that a harsh word is
a word of pain. It is normally a word that causes a lot of hurt and a
wise word will promote calm interactions. We need to encourage

10 | JUNE 2016 CLmyfaithmag.com