Builder or Destroyer?

Job 16:4-5

I could say the same things if you were in my place. I could spout off criticism and shake my head at you. But if it were me, I would encourage you. I would try to take away your grief.

It can take skilled craftspeople months to build a home. Everything they do has to be measured, fitted, and then securely and skillfully installed.

Meanwhile a crew of relatively unskilled laborers can tear down a house in just a few days.

It is so much easier to destroy something than it is to build something. Job’s “friends” beat him over the head with all that they thought he had done wrong. With friends like that, who needs enemies?

The same can be said of the people in our lives. Whether it is family, coworkers, people in the church, or just people we come across every day, it is so much easier to destroy them than it is to build them up.

Paul told the church in Ephesus:

Ephesians 4:29 Don’t use foul or abusive language. Let everything you say be good and helpful, so that your words will be an encouragement to those who hear them.

We must make a conscious decision to be a craftsperson of encouragement. The world is trying to tear everybody down, we are commanded to build them up!

Today’s Readings: Job 16; Acts 21-23

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