Page 64 - Living Light 88

Wednesday May 14 - Be endearing
When the righteous prosper, the city rejoices; when the wicked perish, there are shouts of joy. Proverbs 11:10
There are many good people and bad people in the world. Most people fall between the two, balancing their righteous acts with the occasional display of selfishness or even wickedness. That’s human nature; we are unfortunately more naturally inclined towards wickedness. “For it is from within, out of a person’s heart, that evil thoughts come – sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly” (Mark 7:21-22). In our world we see many examples of this, which is why our world isn’t currently a very nice place.
But Jesus sets us free from this, if we allow him to, and when we prosper as a result of this, our city prospers too; our neighbourhood, our family and friends are blessed and all rejoice. ‘For we are to God the pleasing aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing’ (2 Corinthians 2:15).
But when bad people are allowed to prosper, they bring curses rather than blessings, resulting in trouble and strife in our city and our neighbourhoods. And the only joy we hear is when they perish – there are ‘shouts of joy’ in the city. What a terrible legacy! Surely we would rather have people mourn for us than rejoice at our demise? Strive to make a positive impact on those who surround you. Be endearing!
Father in heaven, help me to be someone who makes a positive impact. Amen.
Thursday May 15 - Be trustworthy
A gossip betrays a confidence, but a trustworthy person keeps a secret.
Proverbs 11:13
Holy gossip? Now there’s an oxymoron – two words that don’t belong together. But sadly, that’s not always the reality. We can fool ourselves by declaring good intentions when we betray a confidence. “The more people who know about your predicament, the more will be praying,” is often our excuse. This speaks more of our need to feel validated and important, yet it often results in the complete opposite, when no-one trusts us any more to keep a confidence. The Bible speaks against such things elsewhere. ‘Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen’ (Ephesians 4:29).
The key part of this is the phrase, ‘building others up according to their needs’. Betraying a confidence is not acting according to their needs; rather we should ask permission before seeking to ‘help’ others in this way. We can build one another up by supporting openly rather than gossiping in secret. In fact, this is a requirement of our membership of the Body of Christ, as Paul tells us: ‘...so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ’ (Ephesians 4:12-13). So let’s not gossip; rather let’s be trustworthy.
Father in heaven, help me to be a trustworthy person. Amen.
PRAYER FOR TODAY
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PRAYER FOR TODAY