Daily Devotional 10-8-2021
Jas 1:19 My dear brothers and sisters, understand this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to anger, Another element of effective communication is to listen carefully to what others are saying. Knowing this is not our nature. Good listening is particularly important for a peacemaker. It improves your ability to understand others, it shows that you realize you do not have all the answers, and it tells the other person that you value his or her thoughts and opinions. Even if you cannot agree with everything others say or do, your willingness to listen demonstrates respect and shows that you are trying to understand their perspective. This can help create an atmosphere of mutual respect that will improve communication. With God’s help you can develop listening skills.
Daily Devotional 10-8-2021
Col 3:12 Therefore, as God’s chosen ones, holy and dearly loved, put on compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience, When we need to talk with others about their faults, we should ask for God’s help to resist our tendency to hammer people into submission by dwelling on their failures. Of course, we sometimes need to show them where they have sinned and fallen short of God’s ways. But that should not be the primary focus of our words, because judgment inevitably discourages. With God’s help we can instead offer hope by drawing attention to the wonderful news that God has forgiven our sins through Christ and is eager to help us change our ways.
Daily Devotional 9-21-2021
Mat 12:18-21 Here is my servant whom I have chosen, my beloved in whom I delight; I will put my Spirit on him, and he will proclaim justice to the nations. (19) He will not argue or shout, and no one will hear his voice in the streets. (20) He will not break a bruised reed, and he will not put out a smoldering wick, until he has led justice to victory. (21) The nations will put their hope in his name. The prophet Isaiah foresaw the Messiah as a gentle Conqueror. He pictures Jesus as the Servant whom Jehovah had chosen, the Beloved One in whom God’s soul was well pleased. God would put His Spirit upon Him—a prophecy fulfilled at the baptism of Jesus. And His ministry would reach beyond the confines of Israel; He would declare justice to the Gentiles. This latter note becomes more dominant as…