Criticizer or Encourager?

Why is it that our first thought or reaction to a person or situation is usually negative?

I have been pondering this thought for some time and checking myself and my motives here. I find that I spend more time than I care to admit researching and rehearsing the faults and shortcomings of others.....even my own family members and brothers and sisters in Christ! With a friend like me, who needs enemies!?

Verse 10 in the book of Jude talks about those who "speak evil of whatever they do not know."

Criticism, many times, stems from ignorance. People tend to criticize things they do not know anything, or very little about. Most of the time we form opinions and attitudes about others based on assumptions instead of facts. Too often we are quick to criticize, even when we don't know the whole story. Sometimes things can appear to be obviously one way only on further investigation of the facts to be found to be the exact opposite.

Be careful about criticizing others. Too often what you hear is just rumor. A rumor can have an element of truth in it, however usually it is a truth that has a twist to it to make it appear to be something else. Just look at all the stories we are hearing in these charged political times we are living in!

I am working at not being a criticizer but at being an encourager. Let's be a people who are known for always seeking to lift and bless, not speaking evil of whatever you do not know. You will be surprised at how what you give out is what you will get back in return! I'll choose blessings and encouragement thank you!

Have a great week!

Don't give up trying!

A friend sent me this amazing story.

A young man who had been raised as an atheist was training to be an Olympic diver. The only religious influence in his life came from his outspoken Christian friend. The young diver never really paid much attention to his friend's sermons, but he heard them often.

One night the diver went to the indoor pool at the college he attended. The lights were all off, but as the pool had big skylights and the moon was bright, there was plenty of light to practice by. The young man climbed up to the highest diving board.

As he turned his back to the pool, on the edge of the board and extended his arms out, he saw his shadow on the wall. The shadow of his body was in the shape of a cross. Suddenly, he felt a strange feeling, like someone was speaking to him. Instead of diving, he knelt down and finally asked God to come into his life.

As the young man stood in deep reverence before the Lord, a maintenance man walked in and turned on the lights. The pool had been drained for repairs.

Mm. Sometimes we get frustrated. It seems like our words are falling on deaf ears and that our loved ones will never see the truth. But we never know how God is working in those for whom we've been praying. He often has a plan we know nothing about!

Let's not be discouraged when we don't see the fruit right away. God knows the day and the hour and He will be faithful to follow through. Keep praying. Keep sharing. Keep sowing the seed! There's so much work to be done!

SUDDEN WHITE

Today we were doing some purging (arg!) in the basement and Nancy came across this poem that I wrote not long after moving to Michigan from California in 1992. I awoke one morning to the leftovers of a night time winter storm, the first I had witnessed after about 10 years in sunny Southern California! What I saw inspired me to write these words.

I know it is the middle of summer, but who knows.....maybe the timing is just right! Let me know. Have a great week!

SUDDEN WHITE

I have been here before

And I've seen the fresh white snow:

A canvas with no brush strokes

A virgin scene, a blissful glow!

I have wondered in amazement

At the change my eyes behold:

How a dark and muddled landscape

Now sees newness, hope unfold!

This bright scene before my eyes:

What of all that lies below?

What has happened to old paths and trails?

Are they there beneath the snow?

Days of old saw dirt and holes

Of wrongs I've done to You:

Tattered hopes and broken dreams

...And promises untrue...

But now the snow! It's white and clean!

The sinful scene is covered,

And like the blanket of His Blood,

What's lost can be re-covered!

I have been here again

And I see the fresh white snow

Now angel's wings and pristine things

Instead of rocks and holes.

--R.Williams