When issues go unaddressed, and disunity continues without strides taken to renew the tie. Strife and every evil thing exists (James 3:16). With this strife and every evil thing comes along angry words or words spoken not with the purpose of edification, everything is to be done in with edification (Romans 14:19; 1 Corinthians 14:26; Ephesians 4:12). If it is not edifying, meaning useful to build another up it should not be said. That, however, does not mean that hard issues should not be addressed because the topic is uncomfortable. Building each other up can be difficult, and in fact, it is rarely easy but labor intensive. The mansion of pride typically has to be demolished before the image of Christ can be constructed.
Words of Sand
When our pride fails to allow us to reconcile with each other, eventually, words of sand are thrown into the arena. The words are coarse, like the small stones of sand. They stick with you as sand does and are carried everywhere. The words of sand get into everything you do. It becomes difficult to even sleep because there is sand in the sheets. The words are numerous, and it can be difficult to pinpoint exactly where they came from. You knew the area from which they came, but from exactly where is almost impossible to tell. You would think that the sand cannot hurt you, but it does. It will rub you raw and sand away at your conscience.
Words of Truth
“Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock” (Matthew 7:24-25 NKJV). The word of the Lord is the rock. His words are unlike sand but steady, strong, and supportive. Steady in that, as the Parable of the Two Builders teaches, the word is unmoving despite all the storm’s beating. Strong in that not only did it not drift away, but it held together and did not break apart. The word of the Lord is supportive because even though it receives a beating from the storm, it can hold your house, which you built upon. Everything we do or say needs to be done in Jesus’ name (Colossians 3:17). As we build our own structures in life, whatever they may be. They need to be built using the firm foundation of the word of God. Any other foundation is sand and will never stand (Matthew 7:26-27).
Do Not Throw Stones
Sand consists of a great number of small stones. Most of the time, when we think of throwing stones (accusations) at each other, we think of heaving these massive boulders at each other or a rock that could kill in one fatal blow. However, it is in my experience that sand is often thrown first. Just as some are actually stated to have thrown dirt in anger (Acts 22:26), some do it figuratively by use of many small but hurtful and sinful comments, which is gossip. Instead of unrighteously throwing stones, be as the Lord, lower yourself, and release the words in such a way that they will be carried away with the wind as the Lord did when He wrote on the ground in John 8. The Lord controlled His tongue and never reviled in return, throwing words of sand that did not need to be thrown (1 Peter 2:23).
