Daily Devotional For Wednesday, August 13, 2025
Good morning and it's a wonderful Wednesday! Have you noticed that for being the most blessed nation on the planet, we are the most complaining, whining and grumbling people? Instead of using God’s blessing as a means to encourage others, we spread discouragement through being so negative. Solomon was a very wise man. He knew that a troubled heart was a killer to one’s life. Solomon wrote this in Proverbs 12:25, “Anxiety in a man’s heart weighs it down, But a good word makes it glad” (NASB).
I don’t know who said it, but someone called this current generation “The Aspirin Age.” We live in an age where we pop aspirin and other meds to relieve headaches, anxieties and stresses. Someone once said, “Laughter is the best medicine.” Do you know where they got this from? – the Bible. Proverbs 17:22a states, “A joyful heart is good medicine . . .” (NASB). I would like to say, “Encouragement is good medicine for the heart.” Proverbs 16:24 says, “Pleasant words are a honeycomb, Sweet to the soul and healing to the bones” (NASB).
Solomon uses a metaphor here to illustrate how pleasant, sweet and encouraging words are to another person. Solomon says that such words are as sweet as honey from a honeycomb. Solomon says that pleasant words are just like honey – sweet and a remedy. What kind of remedy? – medicine to the soul. Proverbs 16:21 states, “The wise in heart will be called understanding, And sweetness of speech increases persuasiveness” (NASB). The Hebrew word used here for sweet in Proverbs 16:21 and Proverbs 16:24 is [וּמֶ֥תֶק, metaq]. In other words, anytime you are abrasive, you are never persuasive.
Anytime someone is abrasive with you, is your first reaction, “Oh, thank you so much for being so harsh with me. I can really see how much you care and your harsh discouraging abrasiveness has caused me to see the error of my life. I am so encouraged now.” No, you get defensive and reactionary yourself. This is why we all must remember Jesus’ words in Matthew 7:12, “Treat people the same way you want them to treat you” (NASB). When we come in with both “barrels” loaded so to speak, then it is not going to be a grand encounter, but a “gun fight.”
Social media platforms are full of negativity, harshness, condemnation, and discouragement. Proverbs 3:7b-8 states, “Fear the Lord and turn away from evil. (8) It will be healing to your body, And refreshment to your bones” (NASB). “Healing to your bones” is a Hebraic way of saying encouragement is sweet and healing to one's own soul and body as well as to others. In Proverbs 12:25 above, the Hebrew word translated as “anxiety” is [דְּאָגָ֣ה, deagah]. It refers to a heaviness about something or someone you love that you have no power to change. You feel so helpless and discouraged. The Bible is not saying that sweet pleasantries will be enough to help. What it is saying is that they do help us keep moving forward and not quitting and being overcome by anxiety or discouragement while we are in that anxiety or discouragement.
Ministering to people doesn’t have to be complicated—it begins with simply introducing yourself. It’s the first step in opening the door and encouraging people in the name of Jesus. Then ask, “How are you doing?” And here’s the challenging part: Stop and actually listen. In the South, we’re taught to be polite. When we ask, “How are you doing?” we don’t always want to know. But God’s people should be more than polite; we should also be genuinely caring.
When we show interest in other people, we’ll often have opportunities to encourage them in the Lord, pray with them, and invite them to church. I’ve experienced this in the gym, the grocery store, and many other places. I hope you will become so comfortable with being an encourager that these conversations will become part of your daily routine. And don’t worry about knowing exactly what to say. The Holy Spirit will guide you and give you words that will be “sweet to the soul and healing to the bones.”
Yet, too much honey can make one sick. That is the point of Proverbs 25:16, “If you find honey, don’t eat too much, or it will make you throw up” (NCV). In other words, people know when you are being genuine. You know when you are being genuine and sincere with your words. We make people emotionally and relationally sick with our false encouragement. Most of the time they can see through our lies and deceit of trying to appear to be sincere with our encouragement.
Assignment: What’s something you could do today to show a neighbor, friend, or coworker or a church member or someone in your community group that you care? Make it personal to them, not some kind of generic encouragement.
Scripture To Meditate On: 1 Thessalonians 5:11, “Therefore encourage one another and build up one another” (NASB).
Prayer to Pray: “Heavenly Father, give me Your heart and Your love for people. Help me to extend sympathy, compassion, humility and especially encouragement to all those I interact with, that they may experience Your love for them through me. In Jesus’ name, Amen.”
I love you Southside! – Pastor Kelly