Jeremiah 26:8-9 But as soon as Jeremiah finished telling all the people everything the Lord had commanded him to say, the priests, the prophets and all the people seized him and said, “You must die! Why do you prophesy in the Lord’s name that this house will be like Shiloh and this city will be desolate and deserted?”
God half expected that the words of Jeremiah may work, and the people would repent. However, it became obvious quite quickly that what Jeremiah said was not what they expected to hear, hence their response.
The story coming to mind is the story of David when he was rebuked by the Prophet Nathan after the incident involving Uriah and Bathsheba according to the word of the Lord. This story, captured in 2nd Samuel 12, can be summarized as “
sometimes, what you may want to hear is not what you need to hear.”
There are some things you will hear that make it feel like you have been hit by a ton of bricks: an uncomfortable truth, a warning, or a behavioral change required. They sting and are uncomfortable yet, those truths are often the ones you need to hear.
For wholesome character development, you cannot surround yourself with fanatics or ‘yes people’. Those who will neither question your choices or motives, and tell you when you are going wrong. People in whose eyes you can do no wrong and so will stand by clapping all the way even while you drive yourself off a cliff. You want those who can speak truth to power, but will do so in love.
#sly
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