Read Proverbs 17

²⁷ The one who has knowledge uses words with restraint,

and whoever has understanding is even-tempered.

²⁸ Even fools are thought wise if they keep silent,

and discerning if they hold their tongues.

Christian, you were born again as an empty vessel to be filled by the Holy Spirit in order to further the Kingdom of King Jesus in this world. You were saved and you were blind and then by grace you saw for the first time.   You have a testimony and you are called to be a witness to the world that you have seen a great light. You bear in your identity as a “Christian” the name of the Anointed One, Christ Jesus. You are his ambassador of reconciliation in this world of brokenness and division. You have experienced a healing in your own life that did not come from a doctor, a self-help book or a medium. You were saved by Jesus! How then can you stay silent? How then do you muffle the groaning of the Spirit within you that demands that the saving power of Jesus Christ be proclaimed from every rooftop? Have you experienced Jesus in this way? On the other hand, do you take it upon yourself to be the source of wisdom and teaching while forgetting that only by Jesus do we have instruction and wisdom from the Counselor Holy Spirit? Your identity is “child” and your job is “disciple.” As a child and as a disciple we are called to wait for our provision from the Lord. We are called to listen as we are instructed and led into the wisdom of the Lord. We must never understand our freedom in Christ as a license to instruct everyone else how to live their lives. The enemy desires to contort and poison your new life in Jesus into a destructive weapon within the Church to create death and division. The enemy will fill you with fear at the moment you are called to testify for what you’ve seen and what you know. The enemy will fill you with pride and self-righteousness the moment you are called to support and nurture the growth of another child of God. The perfect love of Christ casts out fear and in Christ Jesus nothing can separate us from the love of God Emmanuel who will never leave us nor forsake us. The enemy will always seek out opportunities to bottle-neck the spread of the Gospel and cut-off the supply of life-giving water as the focus of wisdom and power is redirected away from Jesus and onto a child of God that can do nothing apart from him. God is with you and the world needs your story. However, this story is not about you but it is what Jesus has done for you.