Daily Devotional

[Ronnie W. Stark]

When you come, be sure to bring the coat I left with Carpus at Troas. Also bring my books, and especially my papers” (2 Timothy 4:13 NLT).

What should you do when you go through a season of loneliness? The answer is illustrated in the life of Paul in 2 Timothy 4, when he was in prison and awaiting his execution.

When you go through a season of loneliness, you need to make the most of your time.

That means make the best of a bad situation. Resist the temptation to do nothing. Take some action — any kind of action. Try to think of creative ways to take advantage of the seasons in which you are alone.

Paul wrote to Timothy from prison and told him, “When you come, be sure to bring the coat I left with Carpus at Troas. Also bring my books, and especially my papers” (2 Timothy 4:13 NLT).

In a season of loneliness, you need to be comfortable and productive. Even though he was lonely, Paul didn’t throw a pity party. He didn’t complain or give up. This is Paul, one of the greatest Christian who ever lived after Jesus himself, who won countless people to Christ, and who is completely alone in his final days. What does he do? He makes the best of the situation. He utilizes his time. He says two things:

“Bring my coat.” Those Roman prisons were damp, dark, and cold. He did the best he could to take care of himself. It is true of human nature that when we are lonely and depressed, we don’t take very good care of ourselves — physically or any other way. We don’t exercise. We don’t rest well. We don’t eat right. Paul did the best he could to take care of himself. Some of you need to hear this today, because you’re not taking very good care of yourself because you're lonely.
“Bring my books.” Paul was a people person. He didn’t like to be alone; it wasn’t the way God wired him. Being in solitary confinement in a Roman prison was the opposite of where he wanted to be. Yet he did the best he could. He wrote letters that today are compiled in the New Testament. Maybe the only way God could slow him down was to put him in solitary confinement. Two thousand years later, we are still benefiting from Paul’s loneliness.

Talk It Over

What can you do now, when you’re lonely, that would be difficult to do with others around?
What practical steps do you need to take today to take better care of yourself?
Who would benefit the most from what you have learned in a season of loneliness?

[Ronnie W. Stark]

Bible Study Verse
Jeremiah 29:11
For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. (NIV)

Thoughts
I tend to think that getting ready for the next big hunting trip is almost as fun as the hunting trip itself. I start making my checklist - checking my gear to make sure it is in optimal condition and practicing with my bow every chance I get.

However, when the big day comes around, something inevitably doesn't go as planned. You make it to your favorite spot only to realize you left the trigger for your bow at home. Your arrows still have their practice tips on them. It's pouring rain outside and the game just don't seem to be moving.

Just as things don't always go according to our plans in the field, things don't always go according to our plans in life. Jeremiah reminds us that our Lord, the Architect of everything, has His own plan for us. We have to be patient and obedient, and let Him be faithful to fulfill His plan.
(Josh C)

Action Point
Make it a part of your daily prayer time to ask God about His plan for the day, for your life. Ask Him to constantly reveal His plan to you, and be prepared for whatever He shows you. It may not match your own plans.

Be obedient, follow His direction, and He will bless you for it.

[Ronnie W. Stark]

Let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not” (Galatians 6:9 KJV).

Every farmer knows that what you sow in one season, you will reap in another season. You plant in the spring, and you harvest in the fall.

The way you respond to someone or to a situation right now is definitely going to affect your future. If you respond correctly in a season of life and you do the right thing, even when you don’t feel like it, it pays great dividends in the future.

“Let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not” (Galatians 6:9 KJV). In other words, don’t give up.

No matter which season you’re in, there are four questions you can ask yourself that will help you reap God’s blessing in the next season.

What can I learn in this season of life? There are some things we only learn through experience. Deuteronomy 11:2a says, “Remember today what you have learned about the Lord through your experiences with him” (GNT).
What can I enjoy in this season of life? The Bible says, “Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus” (1 Thessalonians 5:18 NIV). We are to live the good and the bad days with a sense of gratitude, because each day is a gift from God.
What is most important for this season? Ecclesiastes 3:1 says, “There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens” (NIV). If that’s true, then you can’t have it all at one time. You have to make some tough decisions about what really matters at this particular time in life.
How can I help others in this season of life? The Bible says very clearly that you weren’t put on this earth just to live for yourself: “Whenever you are able, do good to people who need help” (Proverbs 3:27 NCV). God gave you abilities, talents, and energy to help other people.

Pray this prayer today:

“Jesus Christ, I want to grow in you. I want to develop spiritually. Please use the seasons of my life to help me mature in my faith? Would you teach me to trust you in every season, even the difficult ones? Lord, I invite you to be at the center of every season of my life, so you can build the character that I will take with me to Heaven. In your name I pray. Amen.

[Ronnie W. Stark]

Bible Study Verse
Number 32:23
But if you do not do so, then take note, you have sinned against the Lord; and be sure your sin will find you out. (NKJV)

Thoughts
There is a universal sound among most outdoorsmen. All one needs to do is hear the sound and you know what it means. I call it Rack-Rack. Most of you have heard it; and when used in game warden work, it's a warning sound.

During night patrols, we employ it when we find the night-time poacher and we know he is armed. Rack-Rack is the sound of an 870 police shotgun loading 00 buckshot into the chamber. Usually it's employed just at the right time - when the poacher is stopped and the flashing lights and spotlight are shining into his rear window - he knows he's been had. It also says, "This is a warning; do as you're told; time to stop."

Action Point
I believe it is often the same with God as He make us aware . . . when we hear or sense His words, the sound of His voice. We may hear it in something someone said during a small part of a conversation which makes the sound, rack-rack. It's time to stop, to quit, or time to pay attention - a warning, a Rack-Rack of grace before the trigger is pulled and our sin finds us out.

I have been there, and so, probably, have you. Maybe you hear it now. Stop and make a U-turn; come back to your First Love and put an end to whatever the issue is. It's always more painful when your sin finds you out, and it always does. It's just a matter of time. Rack-Rack.

Our God is the God of second chances; and there is almost always the rack-rack before sin finds us out. Time to stop.

[Ronnie W. Stark]

“God has made everything beautiful for its own time” (Ecclesiastes 3:11a NLT).

Life is full of contrasts. We go through mountains, and we go through valleys. We go through successes, and we go through failures. We have wins, and we have losses.

In weather, there are four seasons. But in your life, there are dozens of different seasons. And every season of life includes both good and bad times.

Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 gives us a representation of different life experiences: “For everything there is a season, a time for every activity under heaven. A time to be born and a time to die. A time to plant and a time to harvest. A time to kill and a time to heal. A time to tear down and a time to build up. A time to cry and a time to laugh. A time to grieve and a time to dance. A time to scatter stones and a time to gather stones. A time to embrace and a time to turn away. A time to search and a time to quit searching. A time to keep and a time to throw away. A time to tear and a time to mend. A time to be quiet and a time to speak. A time to love and a time to hate. A time for war and a time for peace” (NLT).

Life is a combination of contrasting seasons. All sunshine and no rain make a desert. If you’re following God’s will, if you’re trying to live your life according to the way God wants you to live, then you’ll eventually see that these experiences can have purpose and value in your life.

You may think that the only time you’re in God’s will is when you’re at church or having a quiet time. You can be in God’s will as you’re cleaning out a closet. You can be in God’s will as you’re mowing your lawn. You can be in God’s will when you move to a new location or stay right where you are. There’s a time and season for everything.

Ray Stevens sang a song called “Everything Is Beautiful” that included the lyric “Everything is beautiful in its own way.” That’s not exactly true. Everything is not beautiful. Cancer is not beautiful. Child abuse is not beautiful. War is not beautiful.

The Bible says it differently in Ecclesiastes 3:11: “God has made everything beautiful for its own time” (NIV). That’s very different from “Everything is beautiful in its own way.” Because the Bible is saying that God can take even the bad things and, in the proper season, turn them around and use them for good in the way he intends.

You may be going through a season right now that is not beautiful. Your finances look ugly. Your health looks ugly. Your marriage or a friendship looks ugly. Your future looks ugly.

But God can make something good out of it as you trust him with the pieces.

Talk It Over

What difficult situation do you need to entrust to God today?
How might the world explain the purpose for a difficult season of life?
What are some ways you can know if you’re in God’s will?

[Ronnie W. Stark]

Bible Study Verse
Isaiah 1:16
"Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean; put away the evil of your doings from before My eyes. Cease to do evil." (NKJV)

Thoughts
I laugh when I watch professional fishermen on TV. They dress in khaki shorts, nice pull-over shirts, flip-flops or sneakers. Their hair is combed or they at least have on a nice hat. They look sharp. They're able to cast while talking to the camera. They have it together. I don't laugh at them, really, but at how much of a contrast they are when I compare them to myself.

I, on the other hand, tend to look and smell like someone that just lost a mud wrestling match to a herd of skunks when I go fishing. Somehow I always manage to end up muddy, itching, smelling like stale fish slime, and I've never had a good hair day. If I were to try to cast and look at the camera at the same time, I would probably be climbing a tree to retrieve my lure or I would be extracting it from the back of my head.

My wife picked up right where my mother left off. I have to strip at the back door and go straight to the showers. I have to clean up!
(Brian H.)

Action Point
My thoughts above are intended to be funny. So start laughing. Thanks.

Honestly though, sometimes we get dirty spiritually speaking and then we just "hand it to Jesus" and "leave it to Him." Those are both very good things, but that's only one side of the equation. There are things that God says He will handle and then there are things that He expects us to do. For example, salvation is completely up to Him. We cannot save ourselves. Period. But on the other hand, we are told here in Isaiah to "wash ourselves" and to "make ourselves clean." God's not talking about salvation here. He's talking about us putting away bad habits and habitual sins in our lives.

How do we do that?

The Bible talks about not giving a toe-hold to Satan. So, in this context, "washing ourselves" means taking deliberate action to obey God and taking away toe-holds. Example, if you have struggled with watching inappropriate things on T.V. then maybe you vow to only watch TV with a spouse or some other accountability partner.

There's more to dealing with our filth than just giving it over to God. That is the first and biggest step for sure but there are expectations that God has for us and He will empower us to fulfill those expectations if we will ask and then act.

[Ronnie W. Stark]

Keep company with him and learn a life of love. Observe how Christ loved us. His love was not cautious but extravagant. He didn’t love in order to get something from us but to give everything of himself to us. Love like that” (Ephesians 5:2 The Message).

I’ve been on this earth for a while now, and I’m still convicted by God about how little I really know about love and how often I am an unloving person. But the fact is, we all need work in this area. We all have a lot of growing to do as we mature in God’s love.

So how do you build a life of real deep love? That’s a profound question, and you will spend the rest of your life trying to do it. But I can give you some steps to get you out of the starting block — five things you can do this week that will help you get on the road to becoming a truly great person of love.

1. Learn how mature love acts and responds.

Personal change always begins with a change in perspective. You need to get God’s perspective on what love is really like, because the world knows nothing about real, deep love. You do that by getting into God’s Word.

2. Start your day with a daily reminder to love.

The first 10 minutes of the day set your entire mood for the rest of the day. Resolve to get up in the morning and say, “God, help me to remember that the most important thing is loving you and loving other people. If I don’t get anything else done today besides love you and the people that you put around me more, this has not been a wasted day.”

3. Memorize what God says about love.

God’s Word is filled with truths and principles on how to become a loving person. The problem is, when you’re in a situation where you’re tempted to be unloving, your Bible is usually at home on a shelf. That’s why you need to memorize Scripture — so that God can bring verses to mind when you need them the most.

4. Practice acting in unselfish, loving ways.

Love is like a muscle. The more you use it, the more it develops. If you want to become a truly loving person, you have to intentionally do some things that seem awkward at first. But the more you practice, the more it becomes second nature, and you become a genuinely loving person.

5. Get support from other loving people.

If you’re just sitting in your room and reading a book, you’re not going to get very far in learning how to love. You only learn it in connection to others, in the context of community. That’s one of the reasons why a small group is so important! It puts you in situations where you can grow as you see godly love modeled for you and as you practice serving others in unselfish, loving ways.

You never learn to love by just sitting back and listening. You learn it in relationship to other people.

Talk It Over

What could you change about your schedule so you can give God the best part of your day and start your day in his Word?
Think of the ways you learned best in school. How can you apply some of those same principles to the way you memorize Scripture?
What people in your life have modeled a life of love? In what specific ways do they love God and others well?

[Ronnie W. Stark]

Love means doing what God has commanded us” (2 John 1:6a NLT).

If we’re going to do a whole devotional series on love — and, more importantly, if the Bible says it needs to be so central to our lives — let’s take a few moments to consider what love really is.

1. The Bible says love is a command.

God commands that we love each other: “Love means doing what God has commanded us” (2 John 1:6a NLT).

You can’t always control an emotion, and God would never command you to do something that he doesn’t give you the power and the ability to do. That means that love is not a feeling. Imagine seeing a little kid who’s crying and upset, and saying: “I command you to be happy! I command you to stop crying!” You simply can’t command someone to feel a certain way.

2. The Bible says love is a choice.

The Bible says in 1 Corinthians 14:1, “Go after a life of love as if your life depended on it — because it does” (The Message). If you “go after” something, that means you make a choice. Love is a choice. We choose to love or not to love.

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had men or women who are trying to justify a separation or divorce say, “I just don’t love my spouse anymore” — as if that’s totally out of their control. But acting in love when you don’t feel like it is actually a higher level of love than when you do feel like it. It’s one thing to love when the flowers are in bloom, but the real test of love is in the winter, when things are not going great in your life. You choose to love in spite of how you feel and give the other person what she needs, not what she deserves. You choose to love others like God loves us.

3. The Bible says love is a conduct.

Love is something you do. The Bible says, “Let us stop just saying we love people; let us really love them, and show it by our actions” (1 John 3:18 TLB).

Every day God puts opportunities around us to demonstrate love. The problem is most of the time we’re too busy. How many times have you thought, “I need to make a call; I need to encourage that person at work; I need to help my neighbor,” but then you missed the opportunity because something else came up? Love takes advantage of opportunities to serve others.

4. The Bible says love is a commitment.

The Bible says in 1 John 4:16b, “God is love. If we keep on loving others, we will stay one in our hearts with God, and he will stay one with us” (CEV). Our relationship with God is largely affected by our relationship with other people. If we commit to love and stay in love, then we will keep in one with our hearts with God, and he’ll stay one with us — because God is love.

Talk It Over

What attributes of God’s love can you try to apply to your relationships?
“You can’t always control an emotion, and God would never command you to do something that he doesn’t give you the power and the ability to do.” How can this truth encourage you when you’re trying to love difficult people or in a difficult time in your life?
What does it mean to be “one in our hearts with God”?

[Ronnie W. Stark]

If you are a follower of Christ Jesus . . . all that matters is your faith that makes you love others” (Galatians 5:6 CEV).

We learned yesterday that the Bible is very clear about what really matters in life: “If you are a follower of Christ Jesus . . . all that matters is your faith that makes you love others” (Galatians 5:6 CEV).

If you don’t live a life of love, then nothing you say will matter, nothing you know will matter, nothing you believe will matter, and nothing you give will matter.

Finally, if you don’t live a life of love, nothing you accomplish will matter.

The Bible also says in 1 Corinthians 13:3, “No matter what I say, what I believe, and what I do, I’m bankrupt without love” (The Message). You can rack up an incredible list of personal achievements. You can get your picture on the cover of Fortune magazine. You can win the Nobel Peace Prize. You can have enormous accomplishments, be entrepreneur of the year, build a billion-dollar company, have incredibly great successes in your field of endeavor. But the Bible says it isn’t worth much if you don’t love. The Bible says — God says — relationships are more important than accomplishments.

Life is about relationships, not accomplishments.

It’s as simple as this: You can have the eloquence of an orator, the knowledge of a genius, the faith of a miracle worker, the generosity of a philanthropist, or the achievements of a superstar, but if you don’t have love in your heart, it is worth zero. It doesn’t count. The only thing that matters to God is this: Do you love him, and do you love other people?

One day you’re going to die, and you’re going to stand before God. When he evaluates your life, he’s not going to look at your bank account or your list of accomplishments or your grades. He won’t care about all your sports trophies. He’s not going to look at your endorsements or your resume.

God is going to evaluate your life on one basis: your relationships. He’s going to ask, “How much did you love me and other people?” That’s called the Great Commandment. Did you love God with all your heart, and did you love your neighbor as yourself?

That’s why Paul teaches us that what matters most is our faith being expressed through love (see Galatians 5:6).

Talk It Over

If you died and stood before God today, how would he say you did at loving him and loving other people?
What opportunities has God given you in your job to love the people around you well?
Why do you think God wants us to spend our lives learning how to better love him and other people?

[Ronnie W. Stark]

“If you are a follower of Christ Jesus . . . all that matters is your faith that makes you love others” (Galatians 5:6 CEV).

Have you ever wondered what matters to God? The Bible tells us in Galatians 5:6: “If you are a follower of Christ Jesus . . . all that matters is your faith that makes you love others” (CEV). God says what matters in life is not your accomplishments or your achievements or your fame or your wealth. The other thing that matters is having a faith that causes you to love other people. If you miss that, you have missed the most important thing in life.

Over the next couple of days, we’re going to look at the most famous chapter in the Bible on love, 1 Corinthians 13. When speakers want to get your attention and want you to remember something, they use repetition. They say something over and over. In the first few verses of this passage, Paul says the same thing five different ways: The most important thing in life is love.

Here are the first four reasons why.

1. If you don’t live a life of love, then nothing you say will matter.

“If I could speak all the languages of earth and of angels, but didn’t love others, I would only be a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal” (1 Corinthians 13:1 NLT).

We’re really impressed by great speakers. We love eloquence and charisma. But God says, “I don’t care how good of a communicator you are. Are you living a life of love?” If you’re not, then nothing you say will matter. Words without love are just noise.

2. If you don't live a life of love, nothing you know will matter.

“I may have the gift of prophecy. I may understand all the secret things of God and have all knowledge . . . But even with all these things, if I do not have love, then I am nothing” (1 Corinthians 13:2 NCV).

We live in a world where knowledge is exploding. We are smarter than we’ve ever been. But we still have the same problems: crime, abuse, prejudice, violence. Why? Because the world doesn’t need more knowledge. It needs more love. You may be a genius. But God says if you don’t have love in your life, all that you know is worthless.

3. If you don’t live a life of love, nothing you believe will matter.

The Bible says, “Even if I had the gift of faith so that I could speak to a mountain and make it move, I would still be worth nothing at all without love” (1 Corinthians 13:2b TLB). There’s a myth that being a follower of Christ is just a matter of believing certain truths. Nothing can be further from the truth! Following Christ is about living a life of love. It takes more than belief to please God.

4. If you don’t live a life of love, nothing you give will matter.

The next verse says, “If I gave everything I have to the poor and even sacrificed my body, I could boast about it; but if I didn’t love others, I would have gained nothing” (1 Corinthians 13:3 NLT).

Love isn’t always the motivation for giving. Some people give just to get back or out of guilt or for control or prestige. You can give for a lot of wrong motives, but the Bible says if you’re not doing it out of love, none of your giving counts.

The Bible is very clear about what happens when you don’t live a life of love. Tomorrow we’ll look at the last reason why you need to focus on your faith that makes you love others.

Talk It Over

What motivates you to give?
If a friend described you, what would they say about how you show your love to others?
The Bible says, “The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love” (Galatians 5:6 NIV). What do you think that means?

[Ronnie W. Stark]

“In the end, people appreciate frankness more than flattery” (Proverbs 28:23 TLB).

It’s scary to speak the truth in love. The reason why we stuff our feelings and hide the issues in our relationships is because we fear the possible consequences. We let fear become greater than our love. Speaking the truth in love means taking a great risk! And because we don’t want to take that risk, we settle for superficial, shallow relationships.

My wife, Kay, and I were pros at this early in our marriage. We repressed the truth, we hid our feelings, and we ignored issues. We swept everything under the carpet to try to maintain the status quo of our marriage. We’d sweep it under the carpet and sweep it under the carpet, and that mound under the carpet kept getting bigger and bigger and bigger until one day it went kaboom!

You must be willing to risk rejection because you love that person. You must be willing to absorb the initial anger of a loving confrontation because you love that person. It takes enormous courage.

Some of you have not felt loving toward a loved one for weeks or months or maybe even years because you’ve been stuffing your feelings down. You’re not speaking the truth in love, and it’s killing the relationship.

Who do you need to have an honest conversation with? Who do you need to speak the truth in love to? Somebody in your neighborhood? Somebody in your small group? Do you see a teenager heading in the wrong direction, getting involved in things they have no business getting involved in? Will you care enough to speak the truth in love?

Talk It Over

Is there a problem you’re pretending isn’t a problem in one of your relationships? How can you confront it?
Where do you get the courage to speak the truth in love to someone?
Who do you need to have an honest conversation with? What steps will you take today toward approaching that person?

[Ronnie W. Stark]

A word of encouragement does wonders!” (Proverbs 12:25b TLB).

A healthy, strong relationship is always built on two legs: confronting in truth and affirming in love. If you only have one of these legs in your relationship, it isn’t going to stand. It will fall over at just about anything!

The truth will set you free, but first it will make you miserable. If I were to come to you today and say, “Let’s go have some coffee. I want to point out the areas in your life that need changing,” you would not be thanking me for it. You’d be saying, “Who do you think you are?” You’d be resentful, rebellious, resistant, and stubborn. You would be miserable, because when you share the truth, at first it hurts. Sometimes a surgeon has to cut out a cancer in order for a body to heal.

When you are having a speaking-the-truth-in-love session with somebody, you begin and end on a positive note, and you affirm three things:

1. Affirm that you love and care for that person.

2. Affirm that you will pray for and help that person.

3. Affirm that you believe that person can change.

Paul did this in 1 and 2 Corinthians. In both books, he begins and ends with affirmation. For example: Paul begins his first letter by saying, “I always thank God for you,” and at the end of the book he says, “My love to all of you in Christ Jesus.” Between that he’s dealing with some very tough truths. He begins and ends on a positive note, but he also includes affirmation like this in the middle of his second letter: “I have great confidence in you, and I have a lot of reasons to be proud of you” (2 Corinthians 7:4a GW).

Notice that Paul used the word “and.” You should never use the word “but” in a confrontation. The moment you do, whatever you say before or after will be totally ignored and invalidated: “I think you’re a great person, but . . .” “We’ve been friends a long time, but . . .” Instead, use the word “and”: “You’re a great person, and I believe you can be even better.” “We’ve got a great relationship, and I believe there are some things we need to work on.” That’s what it means to affirm someone.

Talk It Over

What are some practical ways you can plan what you’re going to say when you confront someone?
How has someone used affirmation when correcting you in the past? How did it make you feel?
Why does the truth sometimes hurt?

[Ronnie W. Stark]

Bible Study Verse
Proverbs 27:17
As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another. (NIV)

Thoughts
The past few months have found me dabbling in the art of taxidermy. I have been searching out any and every one of God's creatures I can get my hands on to try to preserve it as beautiful as God meant it to be when it was roaming the earth.

While performing this art, I have found out exactly how important it is to have a sharp kife and to keep it sharp. This verse is telling us that if we wish to be productive and do more of what God has called us to do, it is necessary to associate with people who are more Godly than we are and those who use their days more productively under His direction.
(Dave F)

Action Point
Just as iron sharpens iron - happy, positive people will inspire you to be more positive and happy. People who are truly serving the Lord will inspire you to be more faithful and subservient.

Try to spend time with people who exhibit those qualities which God may be strengthening in you.

[Ronnie W. Stark]

Thoughtless words can wound as deeply as any sword, but wisely spoken words can heal” (Proverbs 12:18 GNT).

When you plan to lovingly confront someone, after you’ve checked and corrected your motivation, then plan your presentation. You have to think about when you’ll say it (make sure the other person is rested), what you’ll say (introduce it well so it will be received well), and how you’ll say it.

I’ve had a lot of practice in having a loving confrontation. And I’ve discovered that there are three things that work if you want the message to get through to the person you love.

1. Say it tactfully.

Proverbs 16:21 says, “A wise, mature person is known for his understanding. The more pleasant his words, the more persuasive he is” (GNT). You’re never persuasive when you’re abrasive. If you say it offensively, then it will be received defensively. But the more pleasant your words, the more persuasive you’ll be.

2. Say it lovingly.

Paul says in 2 Corinthians 6:13a, “I’m speaking as plainly as I can and with great affection” (The Message). You never use truth as a club. Don’t beat people up with the truth! You say it in a loving way. And how do you know if you’re saying it in a loving way? When it’s for their benefit, not yours.

3. Say it gently.

Galatians 6:1b says, “If someone is trapped in sin, you should gently lead that person back to the right path” (CEV). Being gentle means you lower your voice when you talk to someone and you show humility. Maybe you even qualify your approach: “I may be totally wrong about this, but . . .” or “I’m certainly not perfect. I’ve got a lot of problems in my life.” Don’t come in as the disciplinarian. Gently state how we all need help at some point, and express your love and concern for the person.

When you plan how you’re going to confront someone in love, remember this equation: Truth + Tact + Timing = Transformation.


Talk It Over

Think of the times you’ve responded well to discipline or confrontation. What did the people who confronted you do, so you could listen and understand what they were saying?
Which one of these attributes — being tactful, being loving, or being gentle — does not come easily to you? Pray, and ask God to help you specifically in that area.
Why is it important to consider when you’ll confront someone?

[Ronnie W. Stark]

Bible Study Verses
Romans 6:13
And do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. (NKJV)

Thoughts
Tools and gadgets are part of outdoor fun. We all have a bag, a vest, a tackle box, or maybe even a garage full of them! They make outdoor times more productive and enjoyable.

Going through catalogs helps get us through times of "cabin fever" between seasons. We all know that there are specialty tools with a specific purpose and function. If we need a certain job done, we must have that particular tool to do it.

Outdoor shows feature myriad varieties of such tools; and part of the enjoyment in attending these shows is to learn about the new ones, and to purchase what we need.
(Jack M)

Action Point
Our bodies are tools. We choose if they are tools for good or tools for sinning. Certainly these influences - good or bad - may be upon ourselves or others.

God has specific functions for each of us. We are intentionally constructed for His purposes. He invites us to join Him in His work here in this world to accomplish unique things for His glory.

He rewards and disciplines us for what we do, whether we choose to do good or to use our bodies for evil. "For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad," II Corinthians 5:10 (NKJV). But His intent is for us to use our bodies as tools to accomplish good as He defines it.

I choose to use my body for good and for His glory. Which purpose will you choose? Will you choose to use your body as a tool for good or for sinning?