Parker Inspirations

The human nature in us acts according to different needs in our lives. Some people need constant approval to fill a void from lack of acceptance. Some people want recognition to feel important. Some people want to be in the shadows because it is not all about them. Some people want to lift others up to bring joy in someone else’s life. Sometimes, we just have to take what someone does as something they wanted to do, not ask why they did it?

Barnabus in the Bible was an encourager. He was looking for the good. Throughout the Bible we can see many examples like Barnabus. Paul wrote a lot about exhorting one another, loving one another. All these things are positive outlooks that bring a positive outcome. I believe the Lord tells us this over and over because we naturally lean toward the negative. Whatever we are looking for we will find. If we look for the good, we will find the good. If we look for the bad, we will find the bad.

In a recent conversation we were talking about the levels of sin. Only humans put sin on a graph and give it a number. If you want to justify your actions based on this graph you will find that you will fall short. (Romans 3:23, “For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.”) Nobody is perfect. We cannot expect others to live up to our standard. The only standard any of us have to live up to is the Bible.

Let me tell you there have been many of times I was discouraged because I was expected to live up to someone else’s standard. However, I did not let it get to me. Many times I have wanted to quit; because of someone else who did not realized just how much they were more of a discouragement than an encouragement. Dr. Hyles (a great preacher) once said, “Be nice to someone, because you don’t know what is going on in their life today.” We are not all on the top of the mountain all the time.

Do not ever assume you know what someone else is feeling. All we need to do is Ephesians 4:32, “And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you.” I am often telling my Sunday school girls how you treat others is how you want to be treated. If you are kind, they will be kind. If you are mean, they will be mean. One way to practice all of this is in one phrase: Give a _____, Get a_____. If we think on these things, we will be happier, we will have a better day, and we will see others doing the same in return.