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“Open criticism is better than unexpressed love.”
Those of you who know me personally know that I’m a person soft-spoken when it comes to consideration for others. My husband has told me so many times, “Just cut to the chase! You will walk 5 miles around something to keep from just saying what’s really on your heart!” And he’s right…the “diplomatic me” has such a hard time even speaking the truth in love. The reason I’m better at writing than speaking is that I have time to more carefully choose my words. It’s a gift and a hindrance all in one.
God has created as diverse a palate of personalities as He has variations in the colors of our skin, for reasons far above our understanding. Not all of us would make good trial lawyers or drill sergeants…thank heavens I am neither!
Still, when pondering the above Scripture today, I thought of families and the need for expressed love. Most of us have at least one parent or grandparent from whom words of love trickled rather than flowed. It’s just not easy for some people to say those “three little big words.” Grandma was very, very open in her feelings. She praised hard but when circumstances called for it, she could come down hard on you like a hammer…but she did both from a heart abounding in love! Grandpa was the strong, silent type who was better at action love than spoken love; but he loved strongly and we all felt it without question. When he did actually say he loved you, it really meant something special. My parents were both the same way, Mom being more open and Dad being more reserved. Another lesson in itself, and I think that certain ministers like Bishop T.D. Jakes have such a high calling in teaching men how to open up and be more expressively loving toward their spouses and children.
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article courtesy of TheStreamingFaith.com
Daily Devotional: “Express Your Love” was originally published on praisecleveland.com
