Correctly Handling The Truth

I don’t suppose I could ever count the times I’ve misunderstood someone’s thoughts or intentions toward me, and even if I could, being misunderstood by others would probably outnumber them. We all have this knack of allowing our feelings to get slapped around when someone unintentionally says or does something that accidentally hits us in a private spot. Then again, we also have this knack of sticking our foot in our mouth at just the right time, especially when we’re trying to be funny, exercising what we think to be our personal expert comic relief. That’s the one that generally returns looks letting me know I just stomped a mud hole in someone’s feelings. Once it’s exited the mouth and received, thoughts and intentions between two or more can short circuit and sparks can fly. So remember, “Engage Brain Before Running Mouth”. You may save a friend.
Sometimes we take what is said to us just a little too literally. For example, a man was asked by the police to rid the neighborhood of the pig he kept in his back yard. He was instructed, “You must take him to the zoo”. The police returned the next week to follow up about the pig only to find the pig still on the property. Confronting the owner the policeman said, “I thought we agreed you would take the pig to the zoo?” “Oh I did”, replied the man. “He had a great time and next week we’re going to Six Flags!”
Sometimes we jump to conclusions. For example, a man ran into a drugstore and asked the pharmacist for something to cure hiccups. The druggist filled a glass with water and threw the water into the man’s face. “Why did you do that?” shouted the angry customer. “Well, you don’t have the hiccups anymore, do you?” the pharmacist said. “NO!” the man yelled. “But I’ll bet my wife waiting in the car still does!”
Then there’s that dreaded foot in mouth disease we often contract. A husband and wife hadn’t spoken for days. Confused about the matter the husband concluded it must have something to do with what he might have said. A few nights before his wife nudged him waking him from a sound sleep, all the while whispering in somewhat a panic, “Wake up, wake up!” “What’s the matter?” the he asked. “There are burglars in the kitchen. I think they’re eating the leftover tuna casserole I made last night.” “That’ll teach them”, he replied.
[2 Timothy 2: 14-26] Paul writes to Timothy with encouraging instruction that will enhance him as a teacher and preacher of the Word. We can also learn from Paul about arguing over the use of words when it comes to learning God’s will for man. Paul says to ‘correctly handle the word of truth’ (NIV), ‘rightly dividing the word of truth’ (KJV) which means we must study God’s word to know what it says before teaching it to others. There is an obscure obsession of man that leads him to complicate things that are pure and simple. God’s word is one of those things. Because it involves our spiritual relationship with God and one another, something man cannot touch, feel, smell or see, we try to assign our own ideas to God’s word rather than accepting it as delivered. Paul tells Timothy to simply teach the truth without argument, even to those who oppose him in the hope that it will bring them to their senses. How do you approach the Word of God? Do you take someone else’s word heard for the truth without searching the Bible to see if what is being taught is correct? Do you accept it completely? Do you live it?