“I offer two pieces of wisdom,” he told me, “two commitments you can make: Never be discouraged and never be a discourager.” I have thought deeply about this counsel and have decided it is good—mostly good.

I say “mostly good” because there are times when we cannot help but be discouraged, times when we are deflated and demoralized, when we lose confidence or enthusiasm. After all, this world is messy and this life is difficult. We have friends that hurt us, bodies that fail us, minds that betray us. We wage war against fierce and persistent enemies and endure the toughest of circumstances. So there are times when discouragement is unavoidable and neither sinful nor wrong.
Similarly, there are times when we cannot help but be discouragers, times when we need to take the wind out of another person’s sails by speaking firmly or warning soberly. We may have to deliver difficult news or announce just consequences. There are times when, for a higher purpose, it falls to us to express disapproval and, in that way, cause someone else to become downcast or dispirited. So too, there are times when being a discourager is unavoidable and neither sinful nor wrong.
Yet it seems to me that being discouraged is far more often a choice we make as we respond to the vicissitudes of life and being a discourager is far more often a choice we make as we act sinfully instead of purely. Far more often both are more of a decision than an absolute necessity and more a matter of sinfulness than holiness.
We often prove a discouragement to others when we make ourselves a source of negative news rather than positive encouragement or when we spread information that is outright false or perhaps merely unnecessary. Sometimes in our interactions with others we focus on what is false, vile, and base rather than what is true, lovely, and worthy of praise. And then we can permit bad character to flourish rather than the fruit of the Spirit and evil words to leave our lips rather than those that build up. Then our sinfulness overflows from our hearts and manifests itself in words and deeds that hurt or hinder those we are called to love. In all of these ways, discouragement is a choice we make. It would do us good to determine, “Never be a discourager.”
We often grow discouraged when we allow sin to put down deep roots in our hearts rather than committing ourselves to proving good soil for the work of the Spirit. We often grow discouraged when we interpret God through our negative circumstances rather than interpreting our difficult circumstances in light of our glorious God. We often grow discouraged when we fail to remember that God is working all things for good and when we fail to meditate on the fact that this light, momentary affliction is preparing us for a glory far beyond our ability to comprehend. We often experience discouragement when we simply fail to be encouraged by the truths of God, the love of God, and the promises of God. It would do us good to determine, “Never be discouraged.”
“Never be discouraged and never be a discourager,” he told me. And I find myself agreeing with his counsel and, so far as it depends upon me, committing myself to it.

Grace and peace to you, my friends.

Westminster Books is having an Advent Sale on books related to Christmas. There are lots of good choices there.
(Yesterday on the blog: If God Is Not Sovereign…)
How Christians can think about the epidemic of online gambling and sports betting
I guess I’m not the only one who has noticed sports betting suddenly showing up everywhere! “Given the ubiquity of sports betting in our digital society, it is likely that you or someone you know well is gambling or is struggling with addictive behavior. In light of the addictive and predatory nature of gambling, how should the Church respond to this growing epidemic in light of the biblical ethic?”
Don’t let fear of a social gospel put you off doing good works socially
This is important: “Most people don’t actively hate us, they broadly nothing us. But what they do know about us, or think they know about us, is often not positive. Which means we are starting from behind with many people. They aren’t chomping at the bit to hear our gospel message of salvation. Some think they’ve heard it all before (but we know they haven’t) or think they know what we’re about already and aren’t that keen.”
5 Things You Should Know about Justification
William Godfrey: “While this doctrine is of tremendous theological importance and can be a subject of deep scholarly study, here are five truths all God’s people should know about the doctrine of justification.”
Do Paul and Jesus disagree? (Video)
Some people are sure they see disagreements between the teaching of Jesus and Paul. Guy Waters explains why that’s not the case.
Why Do the Theologians Rage?
“We watch Paul’s warning in Galatians 5:15 unfold: ‘But if you bite and devour one another, watch out that you are not consumed by one another.’ Hyperbole, straw-manning, and intellectual suspicion poison the tongues of some of our most popular theologians. Why have theological leaders given in to cultural division? What can we do about it?”
Plugged In?
This article employs a metaphor to help us understand why we so desperately need the Holy Spirit.
Flashback: Do You Have the Faith to be Faithful?
Today I want to consider what it means to have an exemplary faith, the kind of faith that, if imitated by others, will lead them to become more like Christ. Do you have that kind of faith? If people imitate you, will they in fact be imitating Jesus? This is no small challenge!

The will of God is always good; but the fact is, his will remains always inscrutable to us mere mortals. —Harold Senkbeil

Of all the divine thoughts recorded in the pages of sacred writ, of all the promises God provides to humanity, perhaps none is more moving, none more blessed, none more needful than this: He gives his beloved sleep.

What would we give to those we love if we had all the power of God Almighty, if we could dispense any gift from his endless storehouse? We would give the courage of a hero, the voice of an angel, the wealth of a king, the strength of a champion. God makes no such promises. Rather, the promise God makes is this: He gives his beloved sleep.
What do we bestow upon the ones with whom we share our lives? We bestow many blessings but also many sorrows. We give with one hand and take with the other. We speak blessings and curses, we make memories that are wonderful and memories that are hurtful. We give both smiles that satisfy and tears that aggrieve. But the God who withholds no good thing from the ones he loves gives them sleep.
“Sleep well, my love” we sometimes say, though we know we have no power to soothe a heart that is troubled, a mind that is roiled, a body that is aching. “Sleep well, my love,” we whisper, though we know that the dreams may still come, the night may still be long and dreadful. Yet no nightmare may disturb and no pain endure when God gives his beloved sleep.
This world is marked by noise, this earth with reasons to moan, to weep, to wail. Our days are attended by many stresses, many strains, many sore anxieties. Though we crave rest and need it so very badly, too often it simply will not come. But always we can rest on this sweet promise: God gives his beloved sleep.
As the years pass by, as the body weakens and faith deepens, we come to embrace God’s promises, for we know we need them, we know that to be without the Word is to be without hope. As our age increases, so does our trust and our dependence so that the faith of a tired old man is the faith of a fresh-faced young child—faith in the God who gives his beloved sleep.
And at the end of our days on earth, when we have come to the close of our journey and drawn our final breath, our friends will gather to bid a fond farewell. And on that day, may one of them say, by faith, “Dry your eyes and think on the precious promise he counted so dear. Weep no more, for God has given his beloved sleep.”

Inspired by The Sleep by Elizabeth Barrett Browning