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Weekly Wisdom Winnows

    by Lisa Mendenhall

HOW Did You Say It?!!!
Date Posted: July 12, 2009

Have you ever wondered how you could say something to someone and they just didn't seem to get? Or they just brushed you off and did not take you seriously? And then someone else came along to the same person and said the same thing and they GOT IT! Why is this? Why were they able to receive and understand from that person and not you?

Again, why is this? I believe that alot of the time, (may be not all the time) it is the way we say it and the attitude we say it.

In the New Testament have you ever noticed the word "beloved"? It is mentioned 61 times in the New Testament. It means to esteem, dear, favorite, worthy of love, and the depth and tenderness of Christian love. I believe that Jesus, the apostles, and disciples presented the truth of the gospel with a depth of tenderness and Christian love that caused people to be drawn to them and caused them to desire to hear what they had to say. Now I know that there are always going to be people that refuse to hear truth, but that should be the minority, not the majority.

You need to learn to put the truth out to people with love and compassion and not with an "Oh well, you will get over it if you don't like it" attitiude. Remember the saying, "You can catch more flies with honey than with vinegar?" This is so true. People can pick up on your attitude and just like you they do not want to be around nor hear from anyone who has an "know it all" attitude or an "get over it" attitiude. No where in the Bible do I see this attitude displayed. I see the compassion of God through Jesus' ministry and through the apostles and disciples. They put themselves out for other people and they did it in ways that were noticeable to the people. The people loved them that sat under them. They did not seem to dread coming to church and hearing the word. They did not seem to dread seeing Paul and the others coming. As a matter of fact it looks to me like they longed for their company.

Do people long for your company or do they try to avoid you? The fact is, if the majority of people in your life do not desire your company and avoid being around you, the problem may be with you, not all of the others! I realize there is balance in everything and you are not always going to please people with your words or your actions, but you can go along ways with a little bit of compassion and mercy instead of being judgmental and criticial all the time. If you are a teacher of the word or even someone who loves to share the word of God with others, you should have people come to you and follow you like Jesus did. If you don't , be humble enough to check your attitude and your heart. Check whether maybe a root of bitterness has crept in because of rejection or that a hardness of the heart has not made an entrance making you see things from a messed up perspective. Bitterness and 'hardness of heart' can make you treat people more harshly than you intend and it will definitely impact your ability to share the gospel with others.

Look at Colossians 4:6

"Let your speech be alway with grace, seasoned with salt, that ye may know how ye ought to answer every man." -KJV

"Be pleasant and hold their interest when you speak the message. Choose your words carefully and be ready to give answers to anyone who asks questions." -CEV

"Be gracious in your speech. The goal is to bring out the best in others in a conversation, not put them down, not cut them out." -MESS

Check yourself. Be honest with yourself. Are you allowing old hurts or fresh wounds to make you harsh in your teaching and your witnessing? Do people avoid coming to you with their problems? Do people not want to be around you or hear your words? Maybe there is a good reason. We can't always put it off on, "that is my personality and they will just have to get over it". Maybe it goes deeper than your personality. Has God sent someone by you who loves you enough to speak the truth in love to you but you wouldn't hear? Check and be honest. All it takes is little changes to make a big difference in how people perceive you and hear what you have to say. You cannot be a successful witness for Chirst if you have personality issues that you will not allow God to deal with.

We all have them. Did you hear what I said? WE ALL HAVE THEM! Everyone does. Just in different areas. We need to be willing to allow God to change us, even our personalities if need be, IFwe love Him the way we say we do and IF we really want to make a difference in our little window of time here on this earth. Just be willing to hear the truth. If you are not you could not only be an unsuccessful Christian here on earth but you could negatively impact other Christians too. Be Blessed! Lisa

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Biography Information:
Lisa Mendenhall lives in Smackover, Arkansas with her husband of over 28 years, Chris. She has 4 grown children who also love the Lord, each serving Him in some capacity. As a teacher of the Word, Lisa, believes that she has a responsibility to use her God-given gift to teach those who have a desire to live victorious in Christ how to do so. She believes in order to live victoriously, one must get to know God and His character. His character is love. Therefore, Lisa has a heart-desire to bring people to a greater understanding of God's love. Her teachings explain that when His love is activated IN His children, it will motivate them to give just as His love motivated Him to give 'His only begotten Son', Jesus, to the world. God's wisdom does not always flow with the world's system of wisdom and His Word says, 'my people perish for lack of knowledge'. Lisa states, 'During meditation one day, I heard the word 'winnows'. With great curiosity, I learned it to mean,

'To separate the chaff from (grain) by means of a current of air. To rid of undesirable parts. To separate or get rid of (an undesirable part); eliminate: winnowing out the errors in logic. ...separate grain from chaff...separate the good from the bad...examine closely in order to separate the good from the bad; sift...' (www.dictionary.com) 'This study gave me direction and focus for my teaching.  God had placed a longing in my heart to teach the body of Christ how to separate from carnal thinking and rid themselves of old ways that hinder their Spiritual growth. I desire to see them live victoriously, by the 'higher ways' of God's wisdom.'
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