THE SHEPHERD’S CORNER

Fathers come in various shapes and forms—physically, mentally, and spiritually. In a perfect world we’d be blessed with good and God-fearing fathers but we don’t live in a perfect world. Far from being wonderful, some fathers are harmful to the welfare of their children. Instead of encouragement, they plant discouragement; and instead of love, they instill hatred—plenty of it.

Once I met a young man who was stuck in life. His career was going nowhere and his relationships were failing. And, on top of it all he held a grudge against his father. But, his father had always been there for him and never took anything that was rightfully his, away from him. In fact even at that age that can’t be considered young anymore, his father still provided for him. So, why was he so bitter?

You see, he was deeply hurt not by the unwise decisions his father had made in life—decisions that reverberated and caused havoc to the family. No, that was not the reason. The primary reason why he harbored a deep resentment toward his father was because of the words his father used to say to him—that he knew nothing; that he was no good. And, these words stayed with him.

Words are potent. Words can edify—make us want to do and to be better. But, words can also ridicule—make us want to do and to be worse. The problem is we don’t always have the right words to say. Yes, it takes a lot of wisdom to come up with the right words. But, we can always say pleasant words; it is not too hard to find pleasant words. You see, pleasant words are not only good to hear; they are also therapeutic—they can cure souls. Proverbs 16:24 sums it up beautifully, “Pleasant words are honeycomb, sweet to the soul and healing to the bones.” So, let’s open the jar and give the honey.

Pastor Paul