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Bring Out the Best
TODAY'S SCRIPTURE:
" …Love is kind…"
(1 Corinthians 13:4, NIV).
TODAY'S WORD:
You may have heard this verse many times before, but one translation says that “love looks for a way to be constructive.” In other words, kindness isn’t just about being nice; it’s looking for ways to improve someone else’s life. It’s bringing out the best in others.
When you start your day, don’t just spend time thinking about yourself or how you can make your own life better. Think about ways you can make someone else’s life better, too! 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. We are responsible for how we treat the people He’s placed in our lives. He’s counting on us to bring out the best in our family and friends.
Today, ask the Lord to give you creative ways to encourage those around you. As you sow seeds of encouragement and bring out the best in others, God will send people along your path that will build you up, too. Keep showing kindness so you can move forward into the blessing and freedom He has for you!
PRAYER FOR TODAY:
Father God, 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 be an example of Your love today and always. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.
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PS...
“God knew what he was doing from the very beginning. He decided from the outset to shape the lives of those who love him along the same lines as the life of his Son. The Son stands first in the line of humanity he restored. We see the original and intended shape of our lives there in him.” Romans 8:29 (MSG)
You are wonderfully complex (Psalm 139:14). To fulfill God’s purpose for you, you have to look at every dimension of your life and understand five factors that influence your identity. We’ve talked this week about the ways that our chemistry, our connections, our circumstances, and our consciousness affect the way we are shaped.
If these factors are like the five cards you’re dealt in a game of poker, then the fifth factor would be your wild card. Why? Because it’s your choices, and it affects all your other cards. You may not be able to control the hand you were dealt, but you can use your wild card to change the way you live your life by the choices you make.
The Bible says we are created in the image of God. No other animal was created in the image of God! Dogs have instinct but don’t know the difference between right and wrong. Elephants have no moral compass. But you get to choose to do right or wrong. The freedom to choose is man’s greatest blessing and also his greatest curse, because we make stupid choices all the time that harm us and everyone around us.
The wild card can change the suit and number of the other cards you are dealt. You didn’t choose your chemistry, but you can choose what you do with your body. You didn’t choose your connections, but you can make new relationships and mend or nurture the ones you already have. You can choose how you respond to your circumstances, and you can choose to stop believing the harmful things people say to you.
Your identity is shaped by your choices. What choices will you make today that will positively affect the rest of your life?
Talk It Over
- What do you need from God today to help you overcome the difficult circumstances in your life that keep you from making good choices?
- Pray, and ask God for the help you need.
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