September 27, 2006

Hebrews 10:24. and let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, 25. not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more as you see the day drawing near. NASB

I have a confession to make to you all - I don’t like being around negative people. Negativism is the one thing that I really have never developed the patience to deal with. I believe that many of you feel the same way that I do. It is not a pleasant experience to get “cornered up” with someone who just rattles on with one negative comment after another. Before long you are affected by the stain of their negativism and feel like you need a bath to wash off all their “dirt”. And the worse thing about negativism is that it is contagious. If you listen to it and tolerate it long enough, you will eventually begin to speak and think in the same negative manner.

The author of Hebrews gives some wonderful instruction to the believer on how we should speak and act towards one another. He tells us that we ought to, “stimulate one another to love and good deeds”, and that we should be, “encouraging one another”, with both our words and our actions at all times.

We live in a world that is in many ways hostile to our Christian faith. We share a common enemy of our souls that would use any means possible to destroy our faith and even our very lives. We need to lift one another up within the Body of Christ constantly and always guard our tongue when we speak. As a Spirit-filled Christian, we must always be a positive “light” in a negative world, especially one to another within the body. May God help us to always use our tongues to glorify Christ and edify our fellow man.

May the Grace and Peace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.

Floyd

© 2006 Floyd Steverson