Build 'em Up

For you Ginnie

This morning my friends say their formal goodbye to their beloved mother, grandmother and great-grandma. She was 97. Wow 97! I really didn't know her well. I met her a few times in the past 20 years. I always carried away an impression of energy. She was full of life and energy. If I remember correctly she was someone we should all strive to be. Her obituary says that she lived her life giving to others as a volunteer.

That leads me into the sermon from yesterday. The pastors began a series called Relationslips. No that wasn't a typo, relationslips. The first in a 7 part series is subtitled, Looking for the Positives! Build Up One Another. What little I know about the woman I've mentioned above, would led me to believe that she did just that. What impression do you leave behind? Do you leave those around you encouraged? I think I fail at this much more than I succeed. Lately I find myself as a bit of a sourpuss. I've been judging the glass half empty and not half full. Because of this I don't believe that I am encouraging those around me to be their best. In fact I know that I've spoken discouragement. I've spewed negativity. For that I'm truly sorry. We must be very careful of our words, of our actions. Do they really speak our heart? Do they further God's kingdom? Proverbs 18:7 says, "The mouths of fools are their ruin; they trap themselves with their lips." Psalm 50:19 says, "Your mouth is filled with wickedness, and your tongue is full of lies."

So how do I get back to the glass half full, build each other up, positive person? I plan on diving back into the Word. God provides me all the encouragement I need in the scriptures. If I feel positive and encouraged my cup will runneth over. When you are so filled with the love of God you spill it out. If flows around you and fills your home, your workplace, your neighborhood, etc. In Jeremiah 1:9 it says, "Then the Lord reached out and touched my mouth and said, 'Look, I have put my words in your mouth!'" Job 8:21 says, "He will once again fill your mouth with laughter and your lips with shouts of joy."

Where are you? Do you build or tear down? Do you encourage or discourage?

I'm going to take a page out of the example set above by a simple woman who loved God and worked at pouring that love back into his people.