Have you ever wondered why some Christians seem drawn to teaching while others naturally encourage, organize, serve, lead, or show mercy?
Those differences aren’t accidents.
God intentionally gifts each believer differently—not to compete with one another, but to strengthen His church and spread the gospel.
But what if those different gifts even explain why sincere Christians sometimes disagree?
In today’s readings we’ll see how God used the disagreement between Paul and Barnabas to expand His kingdom instead of hindering it. We’ll also discover how to recognize the spiritual gifts God has given us and why using them is essential.
And from our Old Testament reading we’ll meet a king who faced impossible odds, yet discovered a powerful secret about prayer that every overwhelmed believer needs to remember.
Words have incredible power. Long after childhood is over, many men and women still carry wounds from things spoken to them years ago by parents, teachers, or others they trusted. As someone who counsels people regularly, I’ve seen how deeply careless, harsh, critical, or absent words can shape a person’s thinking and relationships for years to come.
Thankfully, God is gracious. He can redeem even painful experiences and help us find our identity in Christ rather than in the voices of our past. But how heartbreaking when children grow up needing to overcome our parenting rather than remembering it with gratitude.
As parents, we know correction is necessary. Love sometimes requires instruction, discipline, and rebuke. But is correction the primary thing our children hear from us? Do they regularly receive encouragement, affection, and words that build them up?
Childhood passes quickly. Before long, our children will be grown and looking back on the homes we created.
How will they remember you?
Will they know you loved them? More than that… will they believe you genuinely enjoyed them? Will they remember a parent who only corrected what was wrong—or one who also noticed, celebrated, encouraged, and delighted in what was right? One who genuinely liked them?
