Proverbs 27:17
Iron sharpens iron; so a man sharpens the countenance of his friend [to show rage or worthy purpose]. – Amplified Bible.
When I take on a relationship with another person be it man or woman I often want to know where it’s going. What am I supposed to be doing? How can I serve this person to the best of my ability? How long will this last? What will be our final outcome?
The truth is for me these days its best if I don’t know these things. I often find that having no expectations with someone can be rather beneficial. If I knew so much as the final outcome there’s a good chance I wouldn’t even get into a relationship. I want them to last and the truth is no matter what I do they don’t. At least not always and the ones that do often change compared to what they used to be. If I got into a relationship with someone having expectations I often end up disappointed.
Lets face it I’m a human being and I often place certain standards on people that are too high for them to reach. They would need a staircase just to reach the bar. But if I go in with no expectations there is no bar. I’m happy because you’re doing what you’re supposed to be doing and you’re happy because I’m not angry with you for not reaching a bar that’s clearly impossible for you to wrap your hands around. It’s a win-win scenario.
The ancient Book of Proverbs is a book that instructs us how to conduct ourselves with people amongst many other things. It also tells us that some expectations are okay when dealing with relationships, especially if they’re your friends and I will suspect your family and significant other as well. King Solomon of Israel wrote in this book under the 17th verse of the 27th chapter of Proverbs,” Iron sharpens iron, so a man sharpens the countenance of his friend [to show rage and worthy purpose] .
So what does this mean? To me it means if I am going to be in a relationship with someone I need to do whatever I can to make sure their relationship with God is taken care of. I also need to do what I can to share with them my experience, strength, and hope in all matters of our life together. Sometimes it means I have to hold them accountable for their words and actions though it may make us both uncomfortable. After all these are just some of the things I desire for people to do for me. What better way to show someone you truly love and care for than to lift them up? If I’m not lifting them up can I say I truly love and care for them? If I don’t love and care for them why am I really speaking to them?
Let’s have a look at the whole iron sharpening iron thing. In order for a sword to function properly the edges of its blade must be sharpened so it will cut with precision. If it does not cut with precision it is dull and considered useless. The same may be applied to human beings. If we are not living our lives to the best of our ability we become stagnant and fall thus rendering us useless. If we are not beneficial to ourselves and to our God than what’s the point? After all any warrior will tell you two swords are better than one.
Many of us would like to proclaim that we don’t need a relationship in order to be at our best. Yet if you go all the way back to the book of Genesis 2:18 it reads “Now the Lord God said, It is not good (sufficient, satisfactory) that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper (suitable, adapted, complementary) for him. So already from the get go God wants us to have people in our lives. The kind that we may fully trust and rely upon.
God wants us to be together so we may lift each other up and help each other on our journey through life. If you have someone in your life that builds you up and helps to make you a better person don’t let them go. If they sharpen your edges hold on to them. They are a blessing and a gift from the Father and to throw them away would be terrible. That’s like God giving me something amazing and I look into his eyes with a blank face and say “No thanks God. You’re presents are lame!”
Now I don’t know about you fine folks but I recognize a gift from the Father when he gives them to me and I love them the second they’re placed in my hands. I cherish them because I know for a fact these gifts may not always be around.
Speaking of which, is there anyone reading this who thinks they don’t need to go out of there way for someone? Let’s take a moment to reflect on something. Think back to all the friends in your life from preschool to this very moment. How many of them are still in your life? Not many I suspect when looking at the grand total of people. How many of them do you sharpen? How many in return sharpen you? I bet the numbers just dropped even more. I also bet the ones you do have you love more than anything next to God. So why not do everything in your power to not only keep them but make new ones as well. We don’t know how long we have here in this life. Rather than be alone and miserable why not be together and joyful the way our Creator intended? We shall be united as one.
So the question becomes, how do we sharpen one another? Human beings are made up of several different components. We are made up of the mind, heart, body, soul, and spirit. It is imperative that we focus on each part when sharpening our friends, family, associates, strangers, as well as ourselves. The next few paragraphs will deal with these things as well as reference scripture to help people understand what I mean.
The mind: The mind, which is our brain, is where we store our thoughts. In his letter to Rome, Paul, writes in Romans 12:2 in the Amplified Bible, “Do not be conformed to this world (this age), [fashioned after and adapted to its external, superficial customs], but be transformed (changed) by the [entire] renewal of your mind [by its new ideals and its new attitude], so that you may prove [for yourselves] what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God, even the thing which is good and acceptable and perfect [in His sight for you].
We must train our minds not to be caught up in the things of this world. We must not allow our thoughts to dwell on things we have no power over. We must cast all worry and care over to Christ. If we hand our thoughts and our will over to the care of God we relinquish any control we think we may have over someone or something. We then must ask Jesus to give us His will for ourselves so that we may live our lives according to what He wants for us and not what we want.
Another way to sharpen our mind is by studying the word of God through scripture. The word of God is infallible and the Bible is loaded with great information on how we should be living our lives according to the will of the Father. We should study the Bible not to quote from it on a daily basis but to know what it is that God wants from us. The Bible teaches us how to live a righteous life and how to conduct ourselves in a holy way that is pleasing to our Father. We should learn these things to not only benefit ourselves but to teach others how to walk with the Lord.
The heart: We must sharpen the heart. The heart is where our emotions lie. It guides us in our actions as much as our mind. In Jeremiah 17:9-10, AMP, the Lord says to the prophet Jeremiah, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and it is exceedingly perverse and corrupt and severely, mortally sick! Who can know it [perceive, understand, be acquainted with his own heart and mind]? I the Lord search the mind, I try the heart, even to give to every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his doings.”
This tells us we reap what we sow. In other words God gives us things according to what we think, feel, and do. If we think good thoughts about one another, if we feel good things towards one another, if we do good things for one another, God will reward us with good things. However, if all we practice inwardly and outwardly is evil, God will not grant us good things. He will grant us bad things in our life. It’s really that simple. What goes around comes around, in the eyes of the Lord. We must sharpen our hearts as well as our minds in accordance to the will of God.
The body: In his letter to Corinth Paul writes to the Corinthians several things they need to focus on to sharpen themselves in the eyes of the Lord. In Chapter 6 he touches on avoidance of sexual immorality. The Common English Bible states in Corinthians 6:19-20, “Or don’t you know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you? Don’t you know that you have the Holy Spirit from God, and you don’t belong to yourselves? You have been bought and paid for, so honor God with your body.”
What we do sexually not only affects our physical body it also affects our mind and heart. One day Jesus was confronted by a group of Pharisees that wanted to test Him on what the Law of God said about divorce. I’m not interested in the whole reference about marriage and divorce I’m interested in Mark 10:8 “and the two will be one flesh.” What Jesus is saying is that when a man and a woman get married two individuals become as one individual. One of the ways we celebrate this in the western world is by consummating the marriage which is for the bride and groom to have sexual intercourse, thus making the marriage “official”.
Here’s the catch. When people have sex with one another they automatically become attached with each other. It doesn’t matter if they are married or not. The feelings they have for each other changes either for good or bad. I don’t know how else to explain it. If you have never had sex it is something you will never fully understand until you do have sex. This is why so many Christians around the world speak out against premarital sex. It’s not because they want to “cramp your style”. It’s because the married couple are supposed to make a life long covenant with Him and each other. I could go on and on about this subject but I feel it appropriate to hold off for another day and time. Just know one of the best ways we may sharpen our bodies is by abstaining from sex until we are married.
The soul: The soul is our true self. When we die the only thing we are going to carry with us to Heaven is our soul. When we die our body will breakdown and eventually rot away and disappear. They only thing that will remain is our skeleton. If we do not focus on sharpening our minds, hearts, and bodies, it will be difficult to sharpen our souls.
One of the best ways to sharpen our soul is through constant prayer. In the New International Version of the Bible in Philippians 4:6-7 Paul instructs the church in Philippi as follows, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”
This lets us know no matter where we are or what we are doing we should always be asking God for his guidance in all of our affairs. We’ll never have reason to fear anything when we do this because he will fill us with His peace and that’s better than any other feeling we could ever ask for. No person, place, or thing, will ever amount to the peace of God.
The spirit: The spirit is effectively our conscience. This is the part of us that tells us right from wrong. It is where we store our convictions, morals, and beliefs. It helps us to discern what is of God and what is not of God. If we sharpen our minds, hearts, bodies, and souls, sharpening our spirits will happen automatically for us.
I decided to look into the King James Version to find scripture that references the spirit. Isaiah 57:15 states, “ For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones.”
So here God is saying that he revives the broken spirit and heart of man. He puts us back together. If we stay focused on God’s will for us, do right by Him, abstain from certain things, and pray without ceasing, God will put us back together so we may continue living for Him and not for ourselves.
In conclusion, one of the best ways, we may all honor Jesus, is by keeping his instructions. One of the best ways to make disciples is by sharpening one another’s minds, hearts, bodies, souls, and spirits. Of course there are many other ways to do all of these things but this is one that stands out for me. Digging up the New International Version of the Bible I stumbled upon Matthew 28:19-20. It reads as Jesus says, “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” The instructions given by the Lord God Almighty are ones I have chosen to live by for the rest of my life. 🙂
rattle the cages 