Have you ever had a word or phrase continually pop up until you literally can’t ignore it any longer?
As I increasingly sit with people from a pastoral viewpoint, alongside my amazingly gifted husband who knows exactly the right words to say; when to remain quiet, when to sympathize, when to rebuke and when to exhort, I’m coming to a brand new understanding of what boldness is.
I’m generally a pretty introverted person. Once upon a time, I used a few drinks prior to uncomfortable situations in an effort to decrease shyness and increase what I considered to be courage and boldness. My definition of boldness in those days was very different than it is today. Boldness used to look like this: I disagree with someone? I debate you with my liquid courage. I find you irritating or offensive? I let you know with zero explanation or apology. I wore this ridiculous badge of “boldness” with pride.
So let’s be clear. That wasn’t bold; it was obnoxious.
Today, boldness is stepping out of my box and lovingly redirecting the lost or finding myself in an unfamiliar place and still being able to open my mouth at all. It’s encouraging and clarifying and edifying with truth; not my opinion. Oh, my opinion that I held in such esteem for years and years… I still have opinions, of course, but now I double and triple check them for accuracy. Sometimes, I’m all flesh and sometimes my opinion lines up with truth. Renewing the mind, friends. I do it constantly.
Anyway, there are a lot of people who confuse boldness with their right to speak out something that does nothing toward making a person or situation better. Their words may or may not be true BUT do they help?
I love this little rule I keep in the forefront of my brain. Are my words (though true) even necessary? If they aren’t, I keep them to myself or share them with my sounding board (bless his heart).
Okay, so let’s be ESTHER bold. Let’s wait for the perfect timing and the perfect words and the perfect motive and take boldness to a whole new level…. or let’s just be quiet and boldly pray.
Bold isn’t rude.
The righteous are as bold as a lion, right? Stand on that truth but always remember that boldness should be led by God or we’re just speaking from our own emotions and, I don’t know about you, but that’s gotten me into serious trouble in the past.
Be blessed!
