InstaEncouragements Blog

3 Ways to be a Good Friend

10/15/2021

When I moved from Pennsylvania to Georgia, seven years ago, one of the most daunting things I faced was the need to make new friends in a new place. I struggled. For me, the small talk and slow give and take of information, actions, and opinions that eventually build trust, love, and friendship is a hard process.

Don’t get me wrong, I love friendship, and I have several close friends with whom I love to talk and spend quality time. I love friendships that are already established—already tested.

I love friendships where:

trust is given and received freely.
disagreements are interesting instead of uncomfortable.
distance makes us more creative with ways to stay close instead of pulling us apart.

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Trusting God with the Unknown

9/17/2021

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We don’t know a lot more than we do know. For this reason, we spend a large portion of our lives preparing for things that may never happen.

We have car insurance in case we crash.
We have life insurance in case we die before our loved ones.
We have smoke alarms in case there is a fire.
We wear a life jacket in case we fall into the water.

We make these kinds of plans because it is responsible to prepare for the future the best way we know how.

We don’t always just plan for the unknown, though. Often, we worry about it too. “The Big Unknown” becomes more worrisome to us than death and taxes because we don’t know what it is.

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3 Lessons in Worship from the Woman at the Well

8/13/2021

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3 Lessons in Worship from the Woman at the Well

When I hear the word “worship,” I picture a congregation of believers singing praises to God. There really is something special about collective worship during a church service, but worship isn’t confined to Sundays when believers are gathered together. Worship is something continual—an inner response to God’s awesomeness that believers who are focused on their Savior are compelled to give every single day.

It is this daily, moment-by-moment version of worship that I often struggle with. I enjoy the structure of corporate worship.

During a worship service, I know:

When to sing
When to share a testimony of praise
When to pray
When to sit and listen

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Why Do I Care What They Think?

7/16/2021

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Some people pride themselves on their disregard for what others think. As someone who has never felt confident declaring “I don’t care what people think,” I have often wondered if this characteristic is genuine.

Do people with this professed attitude really not care about the opinions of the people around them, or do they just say that to receive praise?

I don’t really have an answer to that question, but in my own personal experience, other people’s opinions of me, when positive, can result in a burst of positive emotions:

Satisfaction
Gratitude
Positivity
Productivity
Confidence

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A List-Maker’s Guide to the 2 Greatest Commandments

6/18/2021

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A List-Maker’s Guide to the 2 Greatest Commandments

Love God
Love Others
Wash the Dishes
Shop for Groceries
Read Matthew 2-4
Pray for Aunt Melinda
Balance the Budget

It would be funny if it wasn’t so painfully true. I am a list-making maniac, and while I don’t want to change that part of myself, every personality has pitfalls. The above example is one of my quagmires. I don’t make lists as blatantly laughable as this one, but some of them come pretty close.

Is it wrong to put your Bible reading and prayer time on your checklist for the day? Honestly, if it serves as a motivational reminder to spend time with God, then go for it!

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2 Things I Can Do Today to Consistently Put God First

5/14/2021

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2 Things I Can Do Today to Consistently Put God First

Why do I want to do good, but don’t do it?

I have often been comforted by Paul’s passage in Romans where he basically admits to a daily struggle between his desire to please God and his desire to sin:

“I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me. For I delight in the law of God after the inward man: But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. O wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver me from the body of this death?” Romans 7:21-24

In a sense, this is the bittersweet reality of the Christian life—being constantly pulled in opposite directions.

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3 Ways to Love Like Jesus Loves

4/16/2021

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While passing each other at church, we exchange social niceties and generic smiles. During our workdays, we put on happy faces and interact professionally with both the kind and the difficult clients. When asked to serve, we obligingly give of our time, finances, and testimonies.

These scenarios make up a lot of our hours, days, and weeks. There’s nothing wrong with being tired after a long week and exchanging a smile and a “Fine, thank you,” with someone in the church hallway. There’s nothing wrong with maintaining a professional demeanor at work. There’s definitely nothing wrong with serving God with our available resources.

But sometimes, at the end of a long week, I find myself wondering if I’ve made any kind of a difference in my little circle of people.

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