There is a very interesting passage in the Bible found in Philippians , chapter 2. It goes like this: "Is there any such thing as Christians cheering each other up? Do you love me enough to want to help me? Does it mean anything to you that we are brothers in the Lord, sharing the same Spirit? Are your hearts tender and sympathetic at all? Then make me truly happy by loving each other and agreeing wholeheartedly with each other, working together with one heart and mind and purpose." (The Living bible) I would like to ask you four questions based on this reading.
1. DO YOU LOOK FOR SOMETHING TO CRITICIZE, OR DO YOU LOOK FOR SOMETHING TO PRAISE? For instance, if in our church, the choir, the Session, the Finance and Maintenance Committee, or some other group or individual attempts to do something, are you quick to criticize the shortcomings or mistakes, rather than notice and commend what is worthy of praisel?
2. DO YOU ENCOURAGE, OR DISCOURAGE? When some course of action is suggested, do you promptly see all the difficulties which make it impossible, or do you see the possibilities which make it well worth trying?
3. DO YOU COUNT YOUR BLESSINGS, OR DO YOU COUNT YOUR MISFORTUNES? Adler, the famous psychologist, tells somewhere of two men each of whom lost an arm. At the end of a year, one of them was so discouraged that he decided that life was not worth living with a handicap like that. The other was so triumphant that he went about saying that he really did not know why nature had given us two arms when he could get along perfectly well with one. DO YOU THANK GOD FOR WHAT YOU HAVE, OR DO YOU CURSE GOD FOR WHAT YOU HAVE LOST?
4. DO YOU LOOK ON DIFFICULT SITUATION AS A DISASTER, OR AN OPPORTUNITY? One person has said, "I do not like crises, but I do like the opportunities they provide." Do you regard a crisis as a time to sit down and wail, or a time to rise up and act?
Let us begin today by the grace of God to
praise rather than tear down,
encourage, rather than discourage,
count our blessings, rather than our losses,
recognize our problems and difficult situations as opportunities.
In His Grace,
Floyd McPhee 
