Bring
Out the Best
TODAY’S
SCRIPTURE
…love is kind…
1 Corinthians 13:4, NIV.
TODAY’S
WORD
One translation of today’s simple verse says that “love
looks for a way to be constructive.” In other words, love looks for ways to
improve someone else’s life. Love brings out the best in other people. Don’t
just get up in the morning thinking about yourself or how you can make your own
life better. Think about how you can make someone else’s life better. Ask
yourself, “Who can I encourage today?” “Who can I build up?” You have something
to offer those around you that no one else can give. Someone in your life needs
your encouragement. Someone in your life needs to know that you believe in
them. I believe God will hold us responsible for the people He’s put in our
lives. He’s counting on us to bring out the best in our family and friends.
Are you improving the lives of those around you? Are you
pouring confidence in them? Why don’t you ask the Lord to give you creative
ways to bring out the best in others? As you sow into the lives of others, God
will send people along your path that will build you up so that you can embrace
every blessing He has in store for you.
PRAYER
FOR TODAY
Father, thank You for loving me. Thank You for believing
in me and always building me up. I ask that You show me creative ways to
encourage and build up the people around me. Help me to be an example of Your
love in Jesus’ Name. Amen.
***
“Do not be afraid; keep on speaking, do not be silent.” (Acts 18:9b NIV)
If ever there was a message you need in today’s culture, it’s this: “Do not be afraid; keep on speaking, do not be silent” (Acts 18:9b NIV). In a world full of ideas and beliefs that go against God’s Word, God wants you to have an uncommon courage and stand up for what you know is true and right. Everyone else is speaking up and telling you their worldview every day. Why shouldn’t you stand up for what you believe?
To stand courageously, you have to know what the world believes and what God says is the truth. This is called a worldview — what you base your beliefs on. Everyone has a worldview. It is the lens through which you view life. Instagram is an online photo-sharing program that has these cool filters that make even a lousy picture look like something that belongs in a gallery. But it’s still the same lousy picture! Similarly, every person uses a different filter through which they see and understand the world. We may all be looking at the same event, but we will see it differently because of our conflicting worldviews.
Your worldview includes how you see God, yourself, others, the past, present, and future, money, time, good and evil. It influences everything in your life. Every time you make a decision, you access the worldview database in your mind and decide that, because I believe this, this is what I’m going to do. Your worldview influences every choice you make.
Here’s the problem: You are profoundly influenced by the worldviews of others. Every time you have a conversation, a worldview is being communicated. You are influenced by the worldviews of your parents, friends, an advertisement, or a newspaper article. Nothing is fair and balanced, because everyone has a worldview.
It is absolutely crucial, then, that you base your worldview on God’s Word, which is the only truth.
In a national survey, 62 percent of Americans claimed they are “deeply spiritual.” When asked how that spirituality affects their decision making, 31 percent said they make moral choices based on “what feels right and comfortable,” 18 percent on “whatever is best for me,” 14 percent on “whatever causes the least conflict with others,” and only 16 percent on “what God’s Word says.”
What does that mean? It means most Christians have a non-Christian worldview. You may be a Christian and headed for Heaven, but you can also have a non-Christian worldview because you’ve based it on what you’ve learned from the world and not from the Word.
Why is it important to stand up and speak the truth? Matthew 10:32 says, “Stand up for me against world opinion and I’ll stand up for you before my Father in heaven. If you turn tail and run, do you think I’ll cover for you?” (MSG)
God is telling you to make a stand for his truth. Taking that kind of stand requires an uncommon courage that is only available through the knowledge and understanding of God’s Word.
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