Supporting Each Other Doesn’t Always Mean ‘Yes, Dear’
Proverbs 27:17 – As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another.
So Mimi and I have been dating for over a year now. And we agree on almost everything with regard to our faiths, our kids, our relationship and life in general. But there are also several areas which we butt heads on.
For example, both Mimi and I have a heart to reach the lost. However, how we reach the lost is different for each of us. I am more of an “in your face, I’m going to hit you over the head with the Bible now” type of guy and she believes living a Biblical life is more effective. Neither is wrong, but both have their strengths and opportunities.
As I write this, Mimi and I were talking about some of our likenesses and differences and realized that we are learning more and more about ourselves every day. Something I thought was a difference in us, she felt we were more closely aligned. It goes to show that regardless of what you think about someone, you always have room to grow in a relationship.
For the most part, we can figure out times that we strongly believe something and we simply say “yes, dear” knowing that the topic is not worth risking our relationship on. But there are times when supporting the other means not saying “yes, dear” and actually getting in the face of the other.
In Proverbs, we are taught that iron sharpens iron. This is a very important proverb in any relationship, not just relationships with our loved ones. When two blades are run together, it sharpens them. The sharpening makes it easier for them to cut through things. Consequently, as the Word of God is a double-edged sword as shown in Hebrews 4:12, we are to sharpen each other with the Word of God.
The first important point to make with Proverbs 27:17 is that we are called into fellowship. Whether that is a dating relationship, a marriage, a discipleship, a missions trip, church, or simply two friends getting together for lunch, God wants us in fellowship with one another in His name. Matthew 18:20 continues this blessing by saying, “where two or more are gathered in My name, there am I with them.” Malachi 3:16 also tells us that those who feared the Lord spoke with each other and the Lord listened to them. When we sharpen each other in the Lord’s name, He listens. He smiles. He cares that we are working to understand His Word.
The next point is that this gives us the ability to share the Law of Christ. Look at 1 Samuel 23:16. When David was being chased by Saul, Jonathon looked for David to “help him find strength in God.” James 2:8 calls us to exhort to love one another.
If we are using a dull knife, it will still cut but it will take a lot more work to do so. But the more we spend time together, and I am finding this with Mimi and I, the sharper we become to prepare us for the ministry that God has planned for us. All too often we like to spend our fellowship time in fun and potluck dinners, but if we take even some of those times and work to sharpen each other then we will be able to, as Paul says, share our problems with one another, support each other as we battle with sin, teach each other how to repent of sin, and rejoice together as we overcome it.
So as Mimi and I learn to sharpen one another in God’s Word and love, we are learning more and more about each other. We are learning where we need to compromise, where we need to stand firm, and where we simply need to say, “yes, dear.”
Hebrews 10:24-25 – And let us consider how we may spur one another on towards love and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another – and all the more as you see the Day approaching
boyradd 