“Let the Knife do the cutting”

I was at the home of someone I like to call my second mum. I was trying to cut through a loaf of bread in her kitchen. While I did, she stopped me. Apparently, I wasn’t doing it right. She took the knife from me and started to cut through. While she did, she said, “Let the knife do the cutting”.

She explained that I was exerting too much force in cutting and the pressure was starting to distort the mold of the loaf. Because the knife was sharp enough, I only needed to apply minimal pressure and the knife will smoothly slice through the bread. I found this lesson very instructive, not just in cutting bread of course or else I won’t be sharing with you but in life. I have chosen to focus on three areas:

In leading…

How many times do we, when in positions of leadership fail to let the knife do the cutting? We want those we lead to take initiative; make decisions and take actions on their own yet we never demonstrate enough faith to help them believe that they can. Because they don’t believe you believe that they can, they often never try. Or could it be the ego problem of seeing someone else take the credit? The knife never gets the credit for a smooth cut, the skillful handler does. Similarly, when you help people believe in themselves and encourage them to lead from where they are, when they do, the credit comes back to you.

In parenting…

I’ve seen this happen a few times, parents who never give their children room to make decisions by themselves and to take responsibility for their actions yet expect these children to make smart decisions when they experience their long-awaited ‘freedom’. That rarely works. As a parent what you want to do is to give a safe amount freedom while you can so that your children can start to make decisions under your supervision; they are the knife, you are the handler, they slice through the bread while you handle skillfully. Yes, there will be mistakes but that’s alright as long as it’s within the boundaries you’ve defined.

In Christian living…

As Christians, how many times do we claim to know the word yet never put it to work? We never act on it yet we claim to believe it. In a difficult situation, we put the pressure on everything, everyone except God and His word — the only thing that never fails. Let the word do the work, let it do the cutting. In my personal life, I have observed that I make a huge mess of things whenever I try to figure out things myself, I damage the bread’s mold. But I have also observed I cut through smoothly when I trust God and put His word to work. How about you? Doesn’t the Word even describe itself as a double-edged sword? That’s even better than a knife!