Regular sharpening simply realigns the edge of the blade – a knife’s edge will curl with use. Your desire is to make your friend better, not bitter sharper not duller. Otherwise, you can be contentious rather than peaceable and do more harm than good.
Your speech is with grace seasoned with salt. It takes skill to sharpen the countenance of your friend.
Knives are sharpened at the precise angle of the blade – otherwise sweeping the blade across the steel dulls it. You can really tell the difference between a Lester Roloff, for instance, and a Joel Osteen. This softer preachers are not making sharper Christians. Peter was a better man as a result of both of these sharpening events in his life. They’ll stand up to you like Paul did to Peter in Gal 2, or like Jesus did to Peter in Matt 16. You need friends in your life who don’t always go along with you. He that rebuketh a man afterwards shall find more favor than he that flattereth with the tongue. So, the best friendships are friendships where there is some friction. From this metaphor of sharpening a blade, we learn the following:īlades are sharpened against steel – It takes friction against steel. The steel and the blade are of the same material. Today we are going to consider Prov 27:17, “Iron sharpeneth iron so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend.” Solomon applied a practical and common event, sharpening a knife or blade, to a beneficial aspect of friendships between men. Just something for us to think about today as we go on our way.Iron Sharpeneth Iron Prov. Who are you – who am I – building up in the faith today? Are you a positive influence on someone? Are you letting Jesus shine in your life so that someone is drawn closer to Him? By the way – we begin a community Bible study on September 4th at 10:30 am and 7 pm – as we open the Bible to the Book of Galatians. This is what the Body of Christ is called to do – to support each other – as iron sharpens iron. We learn about each other and try to help each other through tough times.
Iron sharpens iron bible study plus#
By the way – at last weigh in we had lost 72 plus pounds together! Let the Iron sharpen the Iron!Īt our Tuesday Bible studies (10:30 am & 7 pm) – where we had 34 folks this week – we spend time each week talking about praises and prayer concerns. As we support one another – and some of us have had week(s) where we didn’t see the needle move – we are building each other up. We challenged ourselves to lose 5% of our body weight by Labor Day – 8% by Thanksgiving – and 10% by Christmas. Some of us need to lose more than others – but we can all stand to lose some pounds. Six men – from the current church I serve – are supporting one another as we try to lose some weight. Helping one another grow in their relationship with Jesus is a great calling. Holding each other accountable is a powerful tool. Here it is again – Proverbs 27:17 – As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another. Today’s passage was the base Scripture for our Iron to Iron group. I remember once saying – I hope that 20-30 years from now I can track these brothers and see just what God did in their lives. We had men who are elders and deacons in their current church. We had men who would later go into ministry. We had a monthly meeting as well – and often had 30 plus men at these. Older men – who not only were searching themselves to be men of God – but also mentors to the younger men. Young men who were striving to be men of God. We had a men’s Bible study on Tuesday nights and often had 20 plus in attendance. In one of the churches I was blessed to serve – during the peak of the Promise Keepers movement – the men started a men’s group and we called it Iron to Iron. We are more easily swayed by others than we sway them. Most of us are not leaders – most of us are followers. The old saying – one bad apple spoils the whole barrel – is so true at times. Going against a future Hall of Fame player every day in practice has to improve your game.ĭo you remember growing up – and being influenced by your peer group – your close friends? Parents typically spend a lot of energy trying to influence us about the people who influence us – because it really does matter. They often say it makes game day easier – because they have been practicing against a top 10 defense all week or against an All-Pro in certain positions – and they often play a lesser defense or player on game day. Offenses that practice against strong defenses – often say they improve their game. The better the teammate(s) – the better you will become – because you are competing against the best in practice. If you ever played a team sport – you know that practicing with your teammates often improves your game. As Iron Sharpens Iron Proverbs 27:17 As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another.
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