Iron Sharpens Iron

The Bible says that we must admonish each other, and that we must teach each other, and if someone has a revelation, or a psalm, all things must be done in order for us to grow in our spiritual walk with God.

And of course, we are not only to teach each other the truths of the Word of God, but we are also to correct one another in love, when we need to be corrected, or when we need to correct somebody else. But that must be done in love, because if we do not have love, we are nothing, as the Bible says. Knowledge puffs up, but love builds us up.

When we read Galatians 2:11-14, that Apostle Paul rebuked Apostle Peter, for acting in hypocrisy, when Peter was eating with the Gentiles, at one time, but when other Jews came, he did not eat with Gentiles anymore. So in that case, Paul was rebuking Peter for his mistake. In other words, iron sharpens iron.

It is good for us to be ‘sharpened’ by one another, otherwise, we could become too ‘dull’ spiritually. But it is important to do that in love. It is easier for us to accept any correction, when we see the love for us, from the person correcting us. That is how love builds us up. It makes us more willing to accept any correction from other believers, even if we do not agree with them. At the end of the day, who does not want to be loved? Although the correction may be very difficult pill to swallow, the fact that it comes to us on the wings of love, makes it easier for us to accept it.

I wonder how Peter felt about the rebuke from Apostle Paul? We do not know, because we do not know how Paul said it to Peter. We know that it is important not only what we say, but how we say it too. Sometimes, we can say the truth to someone, but not in a very nice way. Or vice versa. We can still say the truth, but in a nicer, and more acceptable way. So, although we read that Paul rebuked Peter, we do not actually know how Paul said it to Peter. Love makes a hard truth, easier to accept. And we can ‘kill’ a person with a joke. Although it is a joke, if we do not say it in a nice way, it can actually hurt a person, instead of making them laugh.

So we have to be careful, how we ‘sharpen’ one another, just as a iron sharpens iron.