Proverbs 18:4, “The words of the mouth are deep waters, but the fountain of wisdom is a rushing stream”

  I read the internet news some time ago.  It was an article on why the young Koreans do not want to attend the family gatherings in the holidays.  It included various episodes about what young Koreans experience at family gatherings. In many occasions, the way adults express the concerns and interests annoyed and hurt the young ones. This is because the adults usually end up criticizing, finding faults, making comparisons and pressuring them. From the adults’ point of view, they are probably expressing love and sincere concerns. But for those on the listening end, it does not come that way. Such concerns do not come to them as love. For some, it can even remain as scar in their hearts.

  A church is family and a church should be a community bounded by love. So the story about the young Koreans getting stressed at family gatherings was interesting to me. In church, we should be wise in sharing words and in how we act.

  I often think that love needs wisdom. We should put ourselves in other’s shoes, ponder how we are going to express love; carefully decide when and how to say words, and think from the perspectives of Jesus. We need to learn how to craft each word coming out of our mouth and carefully shape the actions we take. The love shines by wisdom. 

  Maybe the ones we need to love could have a fragile heart full of scars. They may not approve of our words and actions and look at us with jaundiced eye. But it is not just their problem. When we deal with sick patients, we should treat their wounds, sanitize it and cover the wounds with gentle hands. 

  Of course, the receiving ends of the loved also needs wisdom as well. If the expression of love is bit rough, they should be wise to see through the rough outside and recognize the love in it. They need wisdom to tear apart the rugged wrapping and take possession of the valuables inside. They should also need wisdom to get rid of the negative perspective when faced with situations.

  It seems that we learn “how to love” over the life course. It is obvious that no one is perfect, and everyone is different. We learn and improve every time we take one step forward, but it is important that we should be conscientious and try to “love someone well”.

From pastor Choi, Jin-Won