Word!…

1 Corinthians 13:1 If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but do not have love, I have become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 

Every so often (more often than I care to admit) the Holy Spirit reminds me to “tune” my instrument before joining the orchestra in making music. In my case, He uses words and their definitions to sound the alarm that I MAY BE just a little off – key.

I have this bad habit of telling people what they want to hear even when I do not fully believe what I’m speaking. My mom used to say, “If you can’t say something nice about someone, don’t say anything at all!” But the problem was (and is), silence speaks VOLUMES! So, a little compliment here or a minimization of a problem there… “a little sugar” so to speak. I kinda sorta like them so I can STRETCH it into love… right? It’s not a lie if YOU believe it… it COULD be true!

I would think, “What does it matter anyway? They don’t need to know what you REALLY think! Besides, most people interpret everything through their own very complex language translation which tells them what you must have meant!”

Truth be told, not only do you NOT want to know what I think, it is of little value to your well-being. So… what does it matter? And it wouldn’t matter, IF you and I were the only ones listening…

But God…

Where you and I hear “nice”, He hears a clanging cymbal. You and I “feel good’ with the thought (after all, it’s the thought that COUNTS!) and count it “music to our ears”, God hears a noisy gong.

When the Holy Spirit reminds me to play the correct song, He is not talking about tone or lyrics. He is talking about the heart… my heart… from which all my treasure flows… Matthew 6:21 for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also

Am I playing sharps with just a touch sarcasm, or am I playing flats with no motive or passion but to say something/anything. I can’t hide it… no matter how much sugar I add to the spoon, it won’t make a sour note turn sweet. And… no matter how many nods I get as I’m singing the sour notes, they remain sour without my heart changing the music. And I can’t change the music without God changing my heart!

1 Corinthians 13:4-8 Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant, does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered, does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails; 

I would just add that love can’t be faked. It is what it is!

When the Holy Spirit is cautioning me, He is never telling me to change my tone (or tune). In fact He is not even talking about the words of my song… He is telling me to let Him play. He is letting me know that I have once again taken over the orchestra. I have become the musician, the instrument AND the conductor. “No worries. I’ve practiced this piece for years!”

When I am playing my own music, the only love I’m singing about  is for myself, and even it is love gone wrong.

1 Corinthians above is not a list of legalistic notes that we are expected to play with daily practice. This Scripture can and should only be played if it is being played by God, Himself. Whether practicing for or playing for the saints, we need to be filled up, pressed down, shaken and overflowing with Him and His music .

Psalm 19:14 Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Your sight, O Lord, my rock and my Redeemer.

If I sense the Holy Spirit’s caution, and I listen for the discordant notes He hears (rather than hide them like I am prone to do) in my words and reactions to other’s words, I will be able to sincerely ask for and be given God’s song of love!

God doesn’t tell me to shut up if I don’t have something nice to say. He doesn’t tell me to stop the music if I can’t play the right song.  The Holy Spirit doesn’t slap my knuckles with a ruler (like my piano teacher used to do) every time I play a sour note. No, everything He does is for training, NOT punishment… victory NOT humiliation… relationship NOT a solo!

I am being taught to play and sing and dance to the music of heaven…

Ephesians 4:29 Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth… because these don’t come from heaven

Ephesians 5:19 speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord;

In a word…

LOVE… the music of encouragement…

Word!

**All Scripture quoted comes from the “Bible Gateway” app and is the NASB version of the Bible