Daily Devotional For Friday, March 1, 2024
Well, can you believe it is finally Friday! Look at Proverbs 10:20-21, “The words of righteous people are as valuable as the best silver. But the thoughts of wicked people are useless. (21) The teaching of righteous people will help many people. But foolish people die because they are so stupid” (ERV). God never minces words, does He? As your week comes to a weekend, so do your frustrations, anxieties, worries and etc. due to demands, expectations, workloads and responsibilities. This is why it is a great time to remind yourself that being kind to others who are unkind, encouraging others who need it and being like Jesus to those who remind you of the devil is so important as a disciple of Jesus.
Think for a moment when someone encouraged you or praised you. The benefits you got from their words was what you needed to continue. It might have been a godly teacher or a pastor or a godly friend or family member or even a perfect stranger. Think back for a moment: who told you and led you to Christ? Where would you be today had they not done this? Their words to you gave you life eternally in Christ.
Proverbs 12:25 says this: “A person’s anxiety will weigh him down, but an encouraging word makes him joyful” (GWT). Boy, isn’t that the truth. Our brains are such that we can remember with great detail the horrible words someone said to us. We can date it. Locate it. Tell who else was around and etc. Yet, how much do you dwell on the encouraging words from someone?
Proverbs 10:11 says, “The mouth of the righteous is a fountain of life, but the mouth of the wicked conceals violence” (ESV). Words can be violent and can kill. Proverbs 11:25 says, “A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in a setting of silver” (ESV). What a picture this is.
Cathy Fussell writes this:
“I have found if I don't have my quiet time each morning, I tend to lose my temper over insignificant things. Recently, my son, Andrew, reminded me of the need for daily prayer. He had accidentally spilled his drink and I went into a tirade. Andrew ended my harsh words when he quietly asked, "Mom, did you forget to ask Jesus to help you be nice today?” (Source: Cathy Fussell, Apopka, FL, Today's Christian Woman, "Heart to Heart”).
Out of the mouth of babes the Bible says. Keith James writes this:
"Dad, it really made us all feel bad," said my ninth-grade daughter after she had climbed in the car following a recent game. She went on to tell how she and the girls on her team weren't sure what to do for the other team's star player. "She was crying, Dad, kind of doubled over sometimes, like she was too tired to keep going, but her coach kept yelling.”
Ah, the coach. How could you miss him? He was yelling from the moment the game began. He was barking commands and issuing demands with a harsh, guttural, barking tone. And with that method he got his results: The girl, through tears that none of us on the sidelines could see, and in pain that we did not recognize, had been skillfully weaving her way through all our defenders, and had scored all the goals for our opposing team. She, in fact, was the key reason for our defeat at the end of the day. Still, despite these successes, the coach kept yelling, and his criticisms for her imperfections echoed across the field.
"But the worst of it," my daughter went on to say, "is that the coach was her dad.”(Source is a link: https://www.preachingtoday.com/search/?query=coach kept yelling&type=word.)
Proverbs 18:21 says, “Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruits” (ESV). Sometimes the people who need the most encouragement are those we take for granted — our family.
If you saw the movie The Blind Side, it was about a real family by the last name of Tuohy. The tell this story of a young man whose life has changed by one simple encouraging compliment:
Sean and Leigh Anne Tuohy, the real-life couple portrayed in the movie Blindside, share the following story in their book In a Heartbeat:
There is a little-known congressional program that awards internships to young people who have aged out of the foster care system. These are kids who were never adopted, and are no longer eligible for state support.
[A senator we've met] employed one such man as an intern. One morning the senator breezed in for a meeting and discovered that his intern was already in the office, reorganizing the entire mailroom. The senator said to the intern, "This is amazing—the mailroom has never looked so clean. You did a great job."
A few minutes later the senator saw that the intern had tears streaming down his face. [He] said, "Son, are you okay?"”Yes," the intern answered quietly.
”Did I say something to offend you?”"No, sir."
"Well, what's wrong?” The young man said, "That's the first time in my life anyone's told me that I did something good.” The Tuhoy's comment, "A little bit of attention and a kind word—that's how little it takes to affect someone's life for the better.” (Source: Men of Integrity, "How Little It Takes," (November/December 2010).
This week, no matter what else happens, find someone, especially in your own family to encourage.
Questions To Consider
- Do you tend to encourage or discourage others, especially your family? Why?
- Do you receive more encouraging words or discouraging words? How do you respond?
- Who do you know that needs you to be Jesus to them so that you can lift them up for the glory of Jesus Christ?
Scripture To Meditate On: Proverbs 18:21, "Words kill, words give life; they’re either poison or fruit—you choose” (MSG).
Prayer To Pray: “Dear Jesus, help me to give life to others though my tongue and my words. I really do want to build people up, especially my family. I don’t want to bulldoze them down with my words. Jesus, help me to put You first, Others second and accept as You say, “put Yourself” last so that I experience J-O-Y and so that I am joy to others. I ask this in Jesus’ name, Amen!”
I love you — Pastor Kelly