WISDOM

What is the best piece of advice you have been given?  I have been thinking about this...going back many years trying to recall a teacher, a friend, a parent, a priest who has given to me the best piece of advice.  And you know what?  The one thing that someone said...and it was a counselor from Serenity Lane when I was receiving help for understanding Lacey's addiction...be kind and caring with your words!  I don't know, to me that is so profound and should be very easy to do.  And for some it is, it is just who they are, how they are made up, but for others, it isn't easy.

When I did a Bible Study lesson on the Proverbs several years back, I totally fell in love with that book of the Bible.  Oh my gosh, it just really spoke to my heart and life and I thought, how easy and wonderful this is and if everyone took those words to heart, how could we have fighting and wars, and harsh words even in families.  But God made us all a little different and He gave us free choice....and do you see, this is where it can all fall apart.  If you don't choose to follow God, then there is something missing in your heart.  You really are not FREE.  In Proverbs 15:1 it says:  "A gentle answer deflects anger, but harsh words make tempers flare."  In other words, a kind word turns away anger.  I think most of us have heard the saying:  "you catch more flies with honey than with vinegar".  It means more can be accomplished by being pleasant than by being disagreeable.  Yet there are people in our lives who just have to be "right" to the point of being obnoxious or arrogant.  Can we change our attitude?  I think we can...will it take a lot of conscious work?  You bet, and it will not be easy.  But really what is our purpose here on earth?  To fight?  To be the one who is right?  To alienate loved ones? 

Proverbs 3:3-4 says, "Never let loyalty and kindness leave you!...write them deep within your heart.  Then you will find favor with both God and people, and you will earn a good reputation."

I don't know about you, but I personally want people to like me!  I want people to think kindly of me.  I want people to say,  "Oh I know Colleen, she is a really nice person, so kind and generous".  My reputation speaks to my character and I pray that I am in favor with God.

So I am thinking:  what Words of Wisdom do I want to pass on to my children, grandchildren and one day great-grandchildren.  The Bible is full of the Words of Wisdom so I am sure it will come from there...keeping God in their heart and FIRST place in their life and then relying on the Gifts of the Holy Spirit.

More pondering and thinking to be done, for sure...as this could be the "Mantra" my family will always remember.  Scott's father, Bill who currently is nearing 88 years has always said, "You get what you give" and that is a "Mantra" that everyone in the family says!  I have said it myself to strangers standing in a grocery line,  "You can go ahead of me...are you sure?....YUP!  You get what you give...pass it on"!  What a Legacy!