As iron sharpens iron, so a friend sharpens a friend. [27:17 (NLT)]
This proverb about iron sharpening iron reminds me of Sunday dinners when I was a girl. After the roast beef was placed in front of my father, he picked up the carving knife and a steel rod. With dramatic flair, he would run the knife back and forth against the steel before carving the meat. For the perfect slice of beef, he used iron to “sharpen” iron.
At the time, I thought he was sharpening the blade; instead, he was honing it. Whenever a knife is used, its sharp edge begins to bend and catch on whatever is being cut. Pulling a knife’s blade along a honing steel brings its rough edges back into an upright position so the knife can perform at its best. A whetstone is necessary to sharpen a dull or damaged knife. But, because it rubs away some of the blade to create a brand-new edge, the more a knife is sharpened, the thinner the blade gets and the shorter its lifespan.
Just as there is a difference between a steel honing rod and a whetstone, constructive comments and words of correction differ from harsh criticism and disparagement—one enriches and improves while the other gradually diminishes. When called to do a little sharpening, we should proceed prayerfully and gently, always remembering that we should be more like honing steels than whetstones. Rather than grinding off any mettle, our purpose is to enhance by smoothing out the rough edges. Moses’ father-in-law Jethro did some honing when he pointed out Moses’ mistake in thinking he could manage two million people by himself. Jethro offered excellent advice on how to delegate responsibility and Moses became a better leader because he listened.
While a carving knife has no choice about accepting that steel rod, we do. Nevertheless, if we want to maintain our sharpness, be properly aligned, and work at our best, a little honing might be necessary. Solomon’s son Rehoboam certainly didn’t take his father’s warning that, “Fools think their own way is right, but the wise listen to others.” [Pro 12:15] Rather than accepting sage counsel from his father’s trusted advisors, he turned to his sycophantic friends because they would tell him what he wanted to hear! His foolishness and their poor advice resulted in a divided kingdom of Israel.
God puts wise people in our lives for a reason and it’s for more than encouragement. Matthew Henry said their purpose is to “improve both others and ourselves…to provoke one another to love and to good works and so to make one another wiser and better.” Like Moses, we can accept the correction that comes from those who love us or, like Rehoboam, we can resist the honing and insist on doing it our way. Just as we are tested by the way we respond to praise, we are tested by the way we respond to correction and constructive criticism. In both cases, we must remain humble and thankful.
The trouble with most of us is that we would rather be ruined by praise than saved by criticism. [Norman Vincent Peale]
Today is Labor Day—the unofficial last day of summer. On a day originally intended to celebrate the accomplishments of workers, it’s somewhat ironic that most of us are doing as little work as possible. Nevertheless, whether it’s just making the bed, grilling the burgers, washing the car, or being called in for an emergency surgery, we’ll all do some work today. We appreciate the day off but we’d much prefer a full-blown vacation—with no chores, deadlines, schedules, or business calls, texts, and emails. On the ideal vacation, all we have to do is relax and enjoy ourselves.
We were discussing when and how we came to believe in the existence of God. Those who’d been brought up in families of faith said there never was a time they weren’t aware of God’s presence. Others spoke of believing in God because He is visible in His creation—in flowers, majestic mountains, birds, sunrises and sunsets, the vastness of space, or the miracle of birth. One came to believe in God while attending Vacation Bible School with a neighbor and another met God through a campus ministry. After apologizing in advance for “grossing” us out, one woman shared her experience while in medical school.
Back in 1957 (long before PETA existed), Curt Richter, a professor at Johns Hopkins, conducted a series of cruel and inhumane experiments to demonstrate the power of hope and resilience in overcoming difficult situations. In this case, the difficult situation was rats being put in a bucket of water with no means of escape and timing how long it took them to drown. After two preliminary experiments, Richter hypothesized that introducing hope to the rats would increase their survival times.
Along with sins of the heart like greed, pride, coveting, anger, and envy, we have jealousy. It’s hard to make a clear distinction between jealousy and envy and, in most cases, the words can be used interchangeably. The difference seems to be that the discontent and resentment of envy is focused outward toward something we desire and the person who has it while the discontent and resentment of jealousy is focused inward toward something we have and want to keep for ourselves. For example, Rachel was envious of Leah because she had given birth to Jacob’s children but both sisters were jealous of one another whenever Jacob slept with the other one. Most often used in the context of romantic relationships and often coming from insecurity, jealousy is a mix of overwhelming possessiveness with a little paranoia on the side.
While the Hebrew word translated as covet, chamad, can mean “take pleasure in,” it also means “ungoverned selfish desire.” Chamad ranges from wholesome delight to illicit craving. It’s not a stretch to see how taking pleasure in something that isn’t yours can lead to desiring it and wanting to acquire it. When David saw Bathsheba on the rooftop, he delighted in her beauty but that delight grew into such desire that he took what belonged to his neighbor. When Achan saw the riches that were to be set aside for God, he coveted the wealth for himself and stole it. When Elisha’s servant Gehazi saw the wealth Namaan brought to his master, he was filled with desire for what wasn’t his to take. Coveting the wealth that Elisha refused to accept, Gehazi chased after Namaan, concocted a lie, and took some of that wealth for himself.
Devotions of the Heart 