1 minute read
Heart Smart
by The Shopper
RICHARD ZEKVELD
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Proverbs 10:12 (ESV) states, “Hatred stirs up strife, but love covers all offenses.”
This proverb contrasts two behaviors. Hatred drives the one. Love drives the other. Proverbs 10:12 is a diagnostic tool. It helps us to discern, based on symptoms, what is going on in the heart – yours or someone else’s.
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This requires discernment. Sometimes people who desire to address and resolve an issue are accused of picking a fight. They might be biblical peacemakers whose end goal is peace. Those who accuse them might be “peace-fakers” who want to ignore the issue. Peace-faking leaves important issues unresolved and people unreconciled.
But those who “stir up strife” are different. They are driven not by a loving desire for peace, but by a fleshly desire to be right, to win a fight, and to sit as judges with moral authority over others. They tell themselves and others that they are fighting for truth, righteousness, or justice. A discerning observer will realize, however, that strife follows them wherever they go. When they enter the mix, chaos ensues. When they leave the mix, everyone breathes a sigh of relief.
We all do well to check our hearts when we find ourselves in conflict. Is our goal to glorify God, to do what pleases him, and to pursue true peace? Or are we driven by a hateful need in the heart to win a fight, to be right, or to lord it over others as their judges?
We do well to pray Psalm
139:23-24 (NIV84): “Search me, O God, and know my heart! Test me and know my anxious thoughts! See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting!” God will answer this prayer. He will show us our hearts.
Richard Zekveld, Pastor, Covenant Fellowship Church cfcsh.org
