- Joined
- Oct 26, 2007
- Messages
- 12,538
Do not oppress widows, orphans, foreigners, and the poor. And do not scheme against each other. Zechariah 7:10 NLT
You’ve been shaken, but you don’t have to shake other people. God doesn’t want you to. He asks you to bear with others in the shaken state they’re in—not to add to their struggle.
Shaken people shake others. That’s unhelpful; it doesn’t show love. Passing your insecurities on to another leaves you both in a pit. Don’t make things difficult for those who have no one to help. Don’t make plots that are designed to hurt others. Just don’t.
So what’s the opposite response? Introduce others to the concept of being unshaken. Help however you can, knowing that everyone struggles. Love them and leave your insecurities with God. If you see someone in a self-imposed pit, lend a hand and help them out. Pray before you ever criticize. Ask God to help you help others.
Today’s verse came from the same writer who penned, “Judge fairly, and show mercy and kindness to one another” (verse 9). This is living unshaken. It’s just what God has always wanted for you.
Prayer: Father, sometimes when I want to feel better about myself, I feel like I have to criticize someone else for being less than perfect. But because everyone sins, no one is worse than me—and no one is better. Help me to be kink instead of critical. People need You—and they need to see kindness in me.
You’ve been shaken, but you don’t have to shake other people. God doesn’t want you to. He asks you to bear with others in the shaken state they’re in—not to add to their struggle.
Shaken people shake others. That’s unhelpful; it doesn’t show love. Passing your insecurities on to another leaves you both in a pit. Don’t make things difficult for those who have no one to help. Don’t make plots that are designed to hurt others. Just don’t.
So what’s the opposite response? Introduce others to the concept of being unshaken. Help however you can, knowing that everyone struggles. Love them and leave your insecurities with God. If you see someone in a self-imposed pit, lend a hand and help them out. Pray before you ever criticize. Ask God to help you help others.
Today’s verse came from the same writer who penned, “Judge fairly, and show mercy and kindness to one another” (verse 9). This is living unshaken. It’s just what God has always wanted for you.
Prayer: Father, sometimes when I want to feel better about myself, I feel like I have to criticize someone else for being less than perfect. But because everyone sins, no one is worse than me—and no one is better. Help me to be kink instead of critical. People need You—and they need to see kindness in me.
