Excuse or Excel – Part III
Superior or Inferior
Proverbs 8:6 – " Hear; for I will speak of excellent things; and
the opening of my lips shall be right things."
We’ve all sinned at one point or another, and from time to time those sins
have attempted to "haunt" us. You see, too often we beat ourselves up
by saying things like, "Man, I should not have done that," "I am
so stupid for doing that," or "well… you did it again." But
regardless of where we "missed it," there is a simple solution for us
to "get it back" — Confession of the superior rather than the
inferior. Let us explain.
Our text tells us, " Hear; for I will speak of excellent things;
and the opening of my lips shall be right things." I like the way this
starts with "Hear." In other words, "take note or record this
and get it right because it’s for the books." Every major turning point
has a significant beginning, and I believe that within this one word,
"Hear," rests that starting point.
Next our text tells us, "For I will speak of excellent things."
When we make our mistakes or fall short of God’s glory, we should know that
incident does not define who we really are. However, it does illustrate to God
and to others an INFERIOR EXAMPLE of who we are. Now take note of that phrase —
inferior example. Another way of putting it is, "a model that is not
reacting, behaving or performing up to specifications." God created us to
be above sin; yet sometimes we perform a little sluggishly and need to get a
spiritual tune-up to run to specifications.
Now it does not surprise me that one definition for excuse is "an
inferior example." Excuses have a tendency to keep us in the realm of the
inferior when we were built to run "wide open" in the realm of the
superior. I will never forget my first time on an autobahn in Italy. Before
then I had seen Porsche automobiles every where in the states. But it was not
until I got to see one move on the autobahn that I realized what they could
really do. As a matter of fact, I was in a vehicle doing 85 mph and the Porsche
passed me like I was standing still. I hope you get where I’m trying to take
you.
Instead of using excuses to pacify our inferior we should simply confess our
shortcoming (one time) to our Father in Heaven and then speak the excellent
things – "the superior." I hear some of the brothers and sisters say,
"Yeah, but Bro. Yon, it’s hard to do that when people keep reminding me of
what I’ve done." I truly have to agree with you. It is hard, but it’s not
impossible. One thing you’ve got to understand is if the devil can’t get you to
speak the inferior things, he will always try to find someone else who will.
But please remember this: just because they continue to speak the inferior
things about you doesn’t mean you have to speak those things over your life.
This is why we have the final portion of our text which states the following:
Proverbs
8:6b"the opening of my lips shall be right things."
The New American Standard version says, "the opening of my lips shall
produce right things." We sin based on a weakness in one area or
another. In order to strengthen that area and bring about whatever change that
needs to come, we need to begin by speaking it. For instance if we need
patience, then we need to speak patience by saying, "I am a patient
woman/man of God." If we need wisdom, then we need to speak wisdom by
saying, "I will receive the wisdom of God who gives wisdom liberally to
those who ask." We sometimes seek a prophetic word from others while
overlooking our own ability to prophesy God’s blessings over our lives. Again,
God did not give us mouths to curse ourselves; instead, He gave them to us to
prophesy the "excellent things" (the "right things") over
our lives.
1 Peter
3:10"For he that will love life, and see good days, let
him refrain his tongue from evil, and his lips that they speak no guile:"
It is God’s will for us to love life and see good days. The good ol’ days
are not behind us; they are ahead of us. So let go of the mistakes of the past
and grab hold to your good days ahead by calling in the superior and letting go
of the inferior.