You Stink!

By

Pastor B.J. Knefley

Tonight, after we had finished dinner, I got up from the table and walked over and gave my wife a kiss. She responded with, “Are you going in to take a shower?” I said “No, why?” She then said, “It was more of a suggestion than a question, you stink.” Not being able to leave things alone, I acted surprised. She then added, “I could smell you in the car.” For those that are wondering, yes I went and took a shower.

Have you ever noticed that sometimes we are the last to know things? After all I shower regularly, brush my teeth and hair, (Oh wait, I don’t have hair). We use deodorant, and perhaps cologne and we still end up smelling bad. Are we missing something?

Okay, so let me get to the real point. There are many things in life that we just simply miss. I’m not talking about body odor but rather the toxicity of our soul that leads to obnoxious and destructive behavior. We don’t see it, and we are often feeling more like the victim than the perpetrator.  Because of wounds to our soul that have come, because of unresolved trauma, abuse, and a host of other things, we don’t see how bad off we really are. Sadly, others see it, but we can’t. 

King David said in Psalm 139:23 “Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts”. Why is that so important? It’s because we need others to help us see what we can’t. Who can really know your heart? Who can see past the masks that you wear? We have to give those that we trust the permission to speak truth, and then we need to receive it.

I have two friends that I meet with every month. With each other we have been open about our lives, failures, regrets and our pain. We purposely get together to do life. It’s a commitment that we each make to each other, because if we’re going to grow we understand that we need others that can speak into our life what they see. If your thinking stinks who’s going to tell you? Think about it.