Hi, MP.
As I have mentioned before, I love the book of Ecclesiastes, and here is one of my favorite verses contained therein:
Ecclesiastes 12:11
"The words of the wise are as goads, and as nails fastened by the masters of assemblies, which are given from one shepherd."
A goad is a cattle prod, and in Solomon's day, it was usually a long stick with a nail protruding from one end of it. as is depicted below.
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When any of the cattle were going astray or walking out of line, the shepherd would prod or prick them with the nail at the end of the stick in order to get them back in line. This is what Jesus was alluding to when he appeared and spoke to Saul/Paul on the road to Damascus.
Acts 9:1-5
"And Saul, yet breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord, went unto the high priest, And desired of him letters to Damascus to the synagogues, that if he found any of this way, whether they were men or women, he might bring them bound unto Jerusalem. And as he journeyed, he came near Damascus: and suddenly there shined round about him a light from heaven: And he fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? And he said, Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest:
it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks."
As Solomon said, the words of the wise are as goads or as pricks, which are given from one shepherd, and here we see the consummate shepherd, Jesus Christ, seeking to goad or prick a wayward Saul/Paul back into line with his words.
As you and I have briefly discussed before, it is because God loves us that he chastens us, or goads us, or pricks us, or "stings" us, so that we might be partakers of his holiness. With such an understanding before us, it stands to reason that if we truly belong to God, then there are going to be times when we will similarly need to goad others back into line ourselves through God's words, which are truly the words of the wise, but only after we have been goaded back into line ourselves.
Some actual thought went into my username and the wording below it, and some of those thoughts pertain directly to this portion of scripture:
2 Corinthians 10:3-6
"For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds) Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ; And having in a readiness to revenge all disobedience, when your obedience is fulfilled."
God's desire for each and every one of us is that we would use the spiritual weaponry which he has graciously provided us with, and part of that weaponry is "the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God" (Ephesians 6:17), to pull down demonic strongholds in our minds, or to cast down imaginations, and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, while bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ. When we do the same, or when our own obedience is fulfilled in any given area, we should have a readiness or be ready to similarly seek to revenge or to address disobedience in others. In other words, after we have humbly removed the beam from our own eye, we can see more clearly to humbly attempt to help others to remove any related speck of dust from their own eyes. If we do not work on ourselves first, then we are pretty much guaranteed to approach others in a hypocritical, condescending, or holier-than-thou type of attitude.
I basically said all of that in order to say this:
Proverbs 27:5-6
"Open rebuke is better than secret love. Faithful are the wounds of a friend; but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful."
If a Christian truly loves other people, then there are definitely going to be times when that love cannot remain secret. Instead, there will be times when it will need to manifest itself openly in the form of a rebuke or wounds which are proceeding or issuing forth from the heart of a faithful friend whose true desire is to help others. Again, having previously been goaded, or pricked, or chastened, or scourged, or rebuked, or "stung" by God themselves, and having turned at such reproofs in order to be partakers of God's holiness themselves, they will exercise the same care in trying to help others as well. Conversely, it is the deceitful kisses of our enemies which we should truly be wary of. In other words, those who will never seek to wound us for our own potential good, or those who will pretend to be our friends while having no true care for our souls, are really not our friends, but deceitful enemies instead.
I hope that this makes sense.
Anyhow, please know, of a certainty, that if you are ever "stung" by something that I share, then my true desire is only to help you as a faithful friend (Remember "Faithful" in Pilgrim's Progress?) , even as I desire to help myself.
So, yes, it is a good thing to never shy away from the truth, even though it may sting.
Psalm 141:5
"Let the righteous smite me; it shall be a kindness: and let him reprove me; it shall be an excellent oil, which shall not break my head: for yet my prayer also shall be in their calamities."
There is so much more that I could say on this topic, but I will stop here.
Have a blessed day.
P.S.
Do you see what happens when you say that you are fond of my long responses?
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lol.
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