Proverbs 27:17 Iron Sharpens Iron, as one person sharpens another.
Recently a friend of mine shared one of his life verses with me, and being a new Christian, I could only assume what he meant by a ‘life verse’, a verse that resonates with him through all time. As I read and re-read the Bible, I am starting to find and memorize life verses, and Proverbs 27:17 is one of those verses. This Proverb, during those first few days after Christ lifted me out of a pit of death, wasn’t even a Bible verse in my mind. In fact, I had no idea the verse extended beyond the first comma. My whole life, even before meme’s existed, I thought this verse was nothing more than iron sharpens iron and served as a bootstrap saying to mentally pick oneself up when things got tough. It wasn’t until a scheduled meeting with my son’s elementary principal, Mr. Miller, that I learned the second part of this verse, as one person sharpens another. As I walked into his office, sitting right there on his desk was a knitted or crocheted or stitched and framed version of this verse. I glanced over and saw it, did a double take, and smiled as I sat down. Little did I know in that moment the impact these eight words would have on my life and the life of those around me.
Since coming to Christ, this Proverb has become a central part of my life. You can find it emblazoned on my wallet, engraved into my ink pen and highlighted in my Bible. It’s the name of the mastermind I belong to, and I often include it in email signatures. Before I knew what our (humanity) purpose was (to serve and glorify God) I thought our purpose was to be in the service of others. I never stopped to think about what my compass would be or my true north, when being in the service of others. I just knew that I needed to be a ‘good’ person and to be a positive force in the community where I live. What I didn’t know or pay attention to however, was my mental chatter. Thoughts, totally private, encompass who we really are as people. Nobody wants their thoughts on public display or even a private display in front of God. That is the rub, isn’t it? To truly sharpen another person, we need purity about us, without greed or selfish pursuit. We need a mindset shift from the inside out.
Imagine a world where each person’s default setting was to sharpen the next person, to help them grow, to be better. I spend more time rebuking my judgmental thoughts of others than I do sharpening the people around me. Being a follower of Jesus, we are called to lead with love, yet my mind is often full of comparative analysis of those next to me. From a person’s clothing, hairstyle, gait or facial expression, my thoughts need constant attention to change internal habitual patterns. Forty-five years of lazy mental gymnastics of letting thoughts run free and without boundary have made it nearly a full-time job to ‘reframe’ my mind, even during the best of days when stress is nowhere to be found, I continuously struggle to stay in His love.
Enter Jesus. The flesh and blood of our Creator, God. He was an actual person and the ultimate example of one person sharpening another. Everything Christ did was to the benefit of another, a shining example of this Proverb. While I’m busy rebuking internal judgments of strangers in His name, He’s busy cleansing my soul. My hope is, with His help, I can begin sharpening those around me; becoming their iron. I have been surrounded by incredible men, including Mr. Miller that either directly or indirectly sharpen me as a human being. We can’t do life alone, we need other people, and we need Jesus as our compass. In the short time He’s been in my life amazing things have happened, but the most amazing are the people He’s put on my path, some seeking Him, and others well rested in Him. These people have in one way, or another, sharpened me. Those who are seeking Him, knowingly or not, sharpen my ability to share the Gospel and those who have found great rest within Him are teaching me what rest looks like. My prayer: Lord, keep me humble before You, use me as iron for others so I may sharpen those around me. Clear my thoughts and cleanse my soul so that I’m always pointed towards You. Form boundaries around my thoughts so they never stray from You. All of this I pray in Your name. Amen.
