Wed.5.13.15...Prov.10:1-15

People Skills

I have a beef with our schools. One of the most basic skills is not taught. Yet students will need this skill no matter what job they take. It's people skills. Thankfully Proverbs is full of such. We are beginning a new section of the book, chapters 10-31, and these chapters are full of wise maxims on life. Many focus on character- what you're like even when no one is around. But many others are about caring relationships (aka love or people skills)- what you're like when others are around. Both are essential for success in life. I want to focus especially on people skills as we work our way through the rest of Proverbs. Don't you wish courses on people skills would have been required when you were in school and for students today? Think how much better off our friendships, work relationships and marriages would be with a good grounding in successful people skills. Years ago I even gave a talk on this subject from the book of Proverbs entitled, "How to Bring out the Best, Not the Beast in People" It's in the Resources section in the upper right corner of our blog. (Yes, you get Brownie points with me if you listen to it. Juslemeknow:) 

Read Proverbs 10:1-15 now and look for a verse or phrase to share that resonates with you on people skills.

Here's my pick-"Hatred stirs up dissension, but love covers over all wrongs" 10:12.
Hatred is a strong word. Hopefully most of us aren't feeling hatred toward our spouses. That can lead to murder. Then again, some of the most godly people have felt such. The late Ruth Graham was once asked if she ever felt like divorcing Billy. With quick wit she said, "Divorce, no. Murder yes!" I share that because I want you to breath a sigh of relief. Even really great marriages have hard feelings within them at times. The late, great Charlie Shedd shared that he and his wife Martha, of over 40 years, had a great marriage. It was rare that they had conflict. But when they did, they could be intense. He shared after one ugly argument, he came down to the kitchen the next morning to find a note which read,

I love that! Her emotions were surrounded by loving commitment. And research has confirmed that it is loving commitment which is the glue that holds marriages together, not loving emotions, which come and go. To those who are not yet married and believe they will never have angry feelings toward their bride, we married men would say, "If love is blind, then marriage is a real eye opener!" You'll see not only her faults, but your own more glaringly as well.

So what do we do with our angry emotions? Great question which we will deal with tomorrow. But first and foremost, we must practice forgiveness. "Love covers over all wrongs." Could you make a list of things your spouse has done to deeply hurt you? So could I, and I've been tempted to write them down for future ammo! But "love covers over all wrongs." We are not asked to forget such wrongs. "Forgive and forget" is not found in the Bible. But "forgive" is. It's very damaging, as you may have regretfully discovered, to go back and expose or uncover your spouse's past wrongs. (But love covers over all wrongs.) We certainly wouldn't want our spouse, friends or God to do this to us. When I have so wanted to throw my wife's past wounding ways in her face, I'm often reminded of God's great forgiveness of me. "forgive...even as in Christ, God has forgiven you" Eph.4:32. "Love covers over all wrongs." Next to that phrase in Prov.10:12, I wrote these words in my Bible, "So love as Christ has loved you." O help us to do the same for others Lord. Fill us and flow through us, for we confess, that we don't have the strength to forgive and love like that. We need You!

1.-So what verse or phrase did you pick from Prov.10:1-15? Write that on your MP3 card and then write it out for us. (It could even be "Love covers over all wrongs."10:12.)

2.-Now imagine that you are mentoring a young man. Ideally share about a time that you either failed or fortunately succeeded in practicing the verse you picked for your MP3. Such personal stories really bring truths home to the heart.

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