This morning as I was reading my Bible this verse in Proverbs 12:25 seemed to be standing out:
“Heaviness in the heart of man maketh it stoop: but a good word maketh it glad”
We have the opportunity to look at our cup half full or half empty. We can greet each new day, saying “this is the day that the Lord hath made” and we can rejoice in it, or we can get up grumbling because we have to get up early and go to a job that we perhaps don’t like. If you thank the Lord for your job and give it to Him, perhaps you will have a better day. Think about the many people that don’t have a job at all and thank God that you do have one! If you dwell on the negative and look at the cup half empty, you will miss out on a lot of blessings.
I’m not saying that you should jump around shouting “Praise the Lord, Hallelujah” although it’s not a bad idea – but seriously, I have days too when getting up at five in the morning is not exactly pleasant, and then driving an hour in Houston traffic can be pretty demanding, especially at my age, being a grandmother . However, if I dwell on that for too long, I would be no good to my little kids that I get to teach and I do enjoy working in our Christian school because I know that the Lord opened that door for me.
We have an opportunity every day to be an encouragement to someone or to discourage them. “Death and life are in the power of the tongue” ….the bible says. Do we use encouraging words to be a blessing, or do we use discouraging words to criticize or be a disappointment to someone. Do we use our words to build up or to tear down? I even noticed that sometimes when I happen to do something that is kind of dumb, that I talk bad to myself. Unfortunately we don’t live to ourselves, and I noticed that at times my son will do the same thing, so I pointed that out to him, and now we both try to encourage ourselves in the Lord rather than to say something negative. There is a saying and I’m sure you are familiar with it that goes like this: “sticks and stones will break my bones, but words will never hurt me.” This is actually a very false statement, because words can hurt very much! The Bible has a lot to say about the tongue, and after all the Lord put it in water and put a gate in front of it, then He said in another place “Set a watch, O LORD, before my mouth; keep the door of my lips. Psalms 141:3. Check out this website by a good friend called: www.fitfortherace.com
I understand that the divorce rate among Christians is just about the same as the lost world – what a sad statement for us. How do you talk to your spouse, or about him or her? When your friends come over to visit and you want them to take their shoes off, do you say to them “take off your shoes, I just washed the floor” or do you say something like: “would you mind taking your shoes off please, I just washed the floor – thanks” So why is it that we talk to our spouse or family members like that instead of how we talk to our friends? When all is said and done, who will stick by you, your family or your friends? I read a book one time written by a lost woman, but she said something to this affect:” your career can be likened to a rubber ball, the same with where you live, but your family should be likened to a glass ball, once you drop it, it is broken!” Mending something that is broken takes a long time and will never really be the same again. So try to look at your glass half-full instead of half-empty and use your words to be an encouragement to someone.
Do you know the song ” Count your blessings, name them one by one?” This helps me a lot when I feel discouraged, and I start to count the blessings that the Lord has given me. For the most part I’m actually content and very thankful for what the Lord has allowed me to do, and I do try to look at my cup as half-full
These are just a few thoughts on this subject and I hope that this will be a blessing to you. This is meant for me as much as for you!
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