I’ve Got a Testimony – About You!
When presented with the opportunity to tell your “testimony” or experience, can you recognize the opportunity to show love through silence to those who’ve offended you?
Yes, you’ve been through some terrible trials and tribulations. We’ve got blow-by-blow accounts of what “they” did and said, and some of us have the scars and scabs to show just how deeply we were hurt. And, “they” were wrong. Dead wrong.
But, thanks be to God – it’s a new day! You’ve done the work and reached the benediction of forgiveness, and you’re growing in grace and peace. Awesome.
One day, you’re asked about the experience or this person, directly. You know that in order to tell the “whole” truth, it would require casting the one who hurt you in a negative, disparaging light. It will drastically shift opinions about that person, or perhaps cause them to take a hit financially or in their relationships with others.
What do you do? Do you run and tell it, or do you hold water?
A Time to Tell It, A Time to Hold It
To EVERYTHING there is a time and a season – including silence and speaking (Ecclesiastes 3:7).
There are times when we are to definitely “cry loud, and spare not (Isaiah 58:1).” There are times when only the most extreme honesty and transparency will allow the healing process and needed change to begin. There are times when one-on-one confrontation in black and white is necessary to bring resolution to real problems (Matthew 18:15).
And, there are also times when everything we know and feel doesn’t need to be said.
This is why listening to a loving Holy Spirit who lives within (Romans 8:10-11) is so important. With discernment and a submitted tongue, we will all know if and when it’s time to spill the beans, or when it’s time to join OUR love with God, who is Love, to cover a multitude of sins (1 Peter 4:8).
Co-labor with God Under Someone’s Cover
This is what we’re talking about today, Team. Did you know that we can prematurely un-cover our brothers and sisters while God is doing surgery on them under the covers of love? Who would ever break into an operating room and yank the covers off the patient – or worse yet, pull them down from the operating table while surgery’s in progress?
Team, we must respect God’s individual plans for our lives and understand that we are all in process at different times, in different ways.
Therefore, even when what we have to say is true, we cannot sacrifice the character of others because we are right. And, God will always let us know when we’re about to do so. You’ll feel that hesitation in your spirit that checks you – “Don’t say that, here’s wisdom on how to glorify Me without exposing them.”
The key is dying to self-righteousness under the shadow of an all-righteous God.
But, I Can’t Hold Water
Oh yes, you can! Be aware of how the enemy fights against these moments to mirror God’s covering love. The sign lies in crucifying our flesh as it fights for the right…
- To be right.
- To show how right we are.
- To prove them wrong.
- To prove how wrong they are or were.
Though all four are problematic, can you see the difference between 1 and 3, and 2 and 4? Numbers 2 and 4 expose extreme cases of self-righteousness where we’re not just satisfied with being right or them being wrong. There’s a stronghold churning within, laced with insecurities, where the level of our rightness has become an idol to our identity. When God wants us to cover someone’s faults, our right to be right must be humbled under the will of God. He is giving us a beautiful chance to work with Him; He’s not working against us.
So, What’s the Play Call?
Maximize your moments to exercise love one to another by honoring your opportunities to cover one another’s faults – just as God’s love covers yours. Remember, when you sow covering, you reap covering (Galatians 6:7).
When God’s will calls for us to “hold water”, we must keep matters confidential – even when the matter is a part of our own experiences. Give every hurtful, sad, angry event, and experience over to God – it belongs to you now, Lord!
Count it all a greater joy to collaborate with God and His will for others, than to “be right” by wrongfully exposing your brother or sister.
Play nice with your sister or brother’s cover – you never know when you will need to borrow it.
In Jesus’ name, God bless!
