Daily Stop & Thinks

Courage

Courage is the first of human qualities because it is the quality which guarantees all others. (Winston Churchill, late British prime minister)

Courage may be demonstrated by a soldier in a dangerous war situation. But it is also a quality that can and should be seen in normal, everyday life. Coming to the aid of someone being bullied. Or speaking up when someone is being wrongly attacked verbally. Are there times when we have lacked the courage to step up to help when all we really needed was a little courage?

This is my command—be strong and courageous! (Joshua 1:9)

Wanting to Be Liked

What happens when you are obsessed with getting people to like you? (David Powlison, late counselor and editor)

That’s a very important question, and Powlison offers a thought-provoking answer: “You become flirtatious or artificial, a coward or a deceiver, a chameleon or a recluse.” Wanting to be liked by people is normal for all of us. No one wants to be disliked. The best way is to live a life of honesty and humility, which will attract genuine friends who like you for who you really are.

Whoever loves a pure heart and gracious speech will have the king as a friend (Proverbs 22:11).

Change

You don’t need a new year to make a change. You only need a new day. (Chris Suitt, minister)

Do you remember your New Year’s Resolutions? If so, you’re probably one in a million. We easily forget our good intentions, most often in just a few days in January each year. But Suitt’s observation is helpful, isn’t it? Every day provides a new opportunity for change. We should evaluate what needs to be changed and begin immediately to work toward improvement.

All must repent of their sins and turn to God—and prove they have changed by the good things they do (Acts 26:20).

Pride

Pride is the worst viper in the heart. It is the first sin that ever entered into the universe. (Jonathan Edwards, 18th century American revivalist)

What is it that makes us think we have better judgment than someone else? Is it because we’re more informed or better educated? Has our experience prepared us to make better choices than others? Does the title before our name (“Professor,” “Doctor,” “Judge”) give us a sense of mental superiority? It would be better if we honor others and hear them out before we speak.

You must all be quick to listen, slow to speak (James 1:19).

Pride ends in humiliation, while humility brings honor (Proverbs 29:23).

Becoming #1

The most important thing in your life is not what you do; it’s who you become. (Dallas Willard, retired philosophy professor)

When we meet someone new, one of our very first questions often is “And what do you do (for a living)?” It always seems important for us to know his or her occupation, as if that would tell us a lot about the person. But how someone lives and behaves is a far better indication of that person’s character. That will best be determined over time as we learn to know people better.

For we are each responsible for our own conduct (Galatians 6:5).

Even children are known by the way they act, whether their conduct is pure, and whether it is right (Proverbs 20:11).

Moving Ahead

The great thing in this world is not so much where you stand, as in what direction you are moving. (Oliver Wendell Holmes, 19th century physician and poet)

We might think more strongly than Holmes about the importance of where you stand, but we can certainly agree with his observation about the “direction you are moving.” Looking back where you once were won’t advance you very far, but it can give you the perspective you need to be certain your life is headed in the right direction.

I pondered the direction of my life, and I turned to follow your laws (Psalm 119:59).

Creativity

Creativity is piercing the mundane to find the marvelous. (Bill Moyers, American journalist)

It’s fascinating to watch an artist at work. He or she may be chiseling a piece of what looks like ordinary rock or welding a sheet of metal. Yet the artist sees something in that piece that most of us cannot see at all. That’s the genius of art whether it’s in sculpture, oil painting, or music. What the ordinary eye doesn’t see in the everyday things of life, an artist sees as something beautiful.

All who are skilled among you are to come and make everything the Lord has commanded (Exodus 35:10).

Growth

Providence is best seen in retrospect. (James Emory White, pastor and author)

Some people see the events of life as just good luck. For the Christian, providence is “God conceived as the power sustaining and guiding human destiny.” For almost everyone, life is best understood by looking back on events and their consequences. Then we can begin to realize that what has been happening is merely a blip in the big picture of what God is doing in our lives.

All the while, you will grow as you learn to know God better and better (Colossians 1:10).

Suffering

Suffering is a mystery that demands a presence. (John Watt, pediatrician)

Watt’s full statement: “Suffering is not a question which demands an answer; it is not a problem which requires a solution, it is a mystery that demands a presence.” When we suffer, we usually look for reasons. What caused this? What did I do wrong? What’s the purpose? Often there is not a good response. But we can find comfort when someone just comes to be at our side.

We are confident that as you share in our sufferings, you will also share in the comfort God gives us (2 Corinthians 1:7).

Encouragement

Be kind. For everyone you meet is fighting a battle you know nothing about. (Ian MacLaren, pen name of John Watson, 20th century Scottish minister)

It’s so easy to make snap judgments about other people. When someone speaks rudely to us or pushes in front of us in line at the Post Office, our immediate thoughts can be so wrong. As MacLaren says, we really don’t know what difficulties others are facing. So, we should withhold judgment and, instead, try to be an encouragement to everyone we meet.

Let everything you say be good and helpful, so that your words will be an encouragement to those who hear them (Ephesians 4:29).

At Heart

The line dividing good and evil cuts through the heart of every human being. (Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, late Soviet dissident and novelist)

It’s an idea that many people want to refute or ignore. We really don’t want to think that anything evil could ever be in our hearts and mind. Yet, to be honest, we all have to admit that we do sometimes have evil thoughts or may be tempted to do wrong. It is a matter of the heart, isn’t it? And we would do well to examine ourselves to be sure our thoughts and motives are pure.

Everything is pure to those whose hearts are pure. But nothing is pure to those who are corrupt and unbelieving (Titus 1:15).

Just Do It

Better to do something imperfectly than to do nothing flawlessly. (Robert Schuler, late pastor)

Motivation speaker Kary Oberbrunner says, “Perfectionism is just fear in disguise.” Such fear may well result in a lack of effort, an unwillingness to do anything. To which Schuler’s comment is noteworthy. Or to put it another way, “Anything worth doing is worth doing poorly.” We should strive to do better, but don’t stop doing it just because the results might not be perfect.

Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters (Colossians 3:23).