\n\u201cAs iron sharpens iron, so a friend sharpens a friend.\u201d Proverbs 27:17<\/em><\/h3>\n<\/blockquote>\n
Knives in my kitchen are sharp! I regularly hone them with a device especially designed to keep the edges able to keenly cut through even a ripe tomato. The work of sharpening requires a grinding away of those little burrs that prevent the knife from doing its job, and this process takes attention and must be repeated regularly.<\/p>\n
God wants His people to be \u201ckeen edged<\/em>\u201d as well. If a knife is dull, it is still a knife but its usefulness is diminished. And so with Christians. God frequently uses people and events to keep us focused, to draw our attention to those seemingly small \u201cburrs<\/em>\u201d that prevent us from being faithful followers.<\/p>\n
How do I react to such sharpening? What is my response when my plans are thwarted and someone comments on my impatience? Do I immediately defend my actions? Do I maintain my \u201crights<\/em>\u201d? Is my response filled with \u201cI<\/em>\u201d statements?<\/p>\n
Oswald Chambers<\/strong> wrote: God can never make us wine if we object to the fingers He uses to crush us with\u2026when He uses someone whom we dislike, or some set of circumstances to which we said we would never submit, and makes those the crushers, we object\u2026 you cannot drink grapes. Grapes become wine only when they have been squeezed<\/em>.<\/p>\n
And knives only become useful when they have been sharpened.<\/p>\n
\nLord, I like being \u201csharp<\/strong>\u201d but I resist the tools you regularly use to keep me that way. Thank you for never giving up on me. Give me grace to accept and even welcome your tools.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
Describe a time when God used a friend to sharpen your life and Christian witness.<\/p>\n
by Marilyn Ehle<\/a>
Used by Permission<\/p>\n\nFURTHER READING<\/span><\/h3>\n
\u2022\u00a0 When Personalities Clash<\/b><\/a> by Julie Cosgrove<\/p>\n
\u2022\u00a0Life\u2019s Painful Experience<\/a><\/strong>s | a Poem by Margaret Mullings<\/p>\n