For the meek, pangs of conscience are often felt quickly, for instance, when we have said something that should not have been said at all or said with much more sensitivity. If quickly informed of the miscue, we can proceed quickly and with rectifying regret.
The spiritual reproof is designed to get our attention while the episode is fresh. Why should we be surprised that it is so? No wonder working out our salvation is such serious and steady business.(Philippians 2:12) To be sure, realization often occurs later in subsequent pondering of things; we come to realize we could have done better. But the “here and now” calls of conscience are best heeded promptly. We are free, of course, to brush aside such messages, but the more often these are deflected, the more emotionally encrusted we become, even “past feeling” (Ephesians 4:19). Much as we regret having to feel stinging regrets, there is no other way.
Unsurprisingly, too, we sometimes find ourselves praying earnestly and in advance over how we might say or do something in order to be most helpful to others, something worth praying over. When we are successful in such anxious efforts, it is likely the helpful presence of our love that others feel more than any adroitness of our words. Others can easily forgive our verbal clumsiness when our love is present, but if love is not present, skillful words avail very little.
Even skillful diplomacy cannot substitute for genuine love.~ Neal A. Maxwell
(I couldn’t find the reference for the above, which was prepared October 3, 2018. kent)
