And let us not lose heart and grow weary and faint in acting nobly and doing right, for in due time and at the appointed season we shall reap, if we do not loosen and relax our courage and faint. —Galatians 6:9

“I’ve been a Christian for twenty-three years,” Cheryl said. “I’m just not getting anywhere. I’m as weak as I was when I first accepted Christ as my Savior. I still fail. I just don’t know if it’s worth it.” Tears streamed down her cheeks as she continued to talk about her failures. “By now I know all the right things to do, but I don’t do them. Sometimes I deliberately do something mean-spirited or unkind. What kind of Christian am I?”

“Probably a growing Christian,” I said.

A startled look appeared on Cheryl’s face. “Growing? Did you hear—?”

“Yes, I heard. But if you weren’t growing, you wouldn’t lament your failures. You’d be satisfied about your spiritual level or tell yourself how good you are.”

“But I’m so discouraged, and I fail God so many times.”

I went on to tell Cheryl she was correct—that she had failed. All of us do at times. None of us is perfect. If we’re not careful, we allow the devil to point to what we haven’t accomplished and where we have been weak. When that happens, it’s easy to feel bad or want to give up.

That’s not the way of the Spirit. No matter how we mess up our lives, God doesn’t give up on us. The Spirit constantly nudges us.

We can allow our thoughts to dwell on what we haven’t done, why we ought to be more spiritual, or how spiritual we ought to be after all these years in our Christian faith. That’s a trick of the devil—to make us think of our defects and shortcomings. If we focus on what we’re not or what we haven’t accomplished, we are allowing the devil to make advances on the battlefield of our minds.

The fact that my troubled friend was upset was a healthy sign, even though she didn’t see it that way. With the Holy Spirit’s help, she can push back the devil. She can regain the territory Satan has stolen from her.

Cheryl seemed to think that holy, victorious living came from one major victory after another. Yes, we do have times when we have great breakthroughs; however, most of our ¬victories come slowly. They come little by little. It’s as if we inch forward. Because we move slowly in our spiritual growth, we are often unaware of how far we have moved. If the devil can make us think that we must have one decisive spiritual victory after another or we’re losers, he has gained an important stronghold.

My advice to Cheryl, and to all Christians who face those dark moments, is to listen to the words of the apostle Paul. He exhorted us not to grow weary, or as another translation says it, “not to lose heart.” He’s saying, “Don’t quit. Keep fighting.”

Life is a struggle, and the devil is determined to defeat and destroy us. We don’t ever reach the place where we never have to fight. But it’s not just our fight. Jesus is not only with us, but He is for us. He’s at our side to strengthen us and to urge us onward. My friend kept remembering the times she had failed, but I reminded her of the times she had succeeded. “You think the devil is in control, but that’s not true. You have failed, but you have also succeeded. You have stood your ground and you have made progress.”

“Don’t quit. Don’t give up.” That’s the message we need to hear. I think of the words of Isaiah: “Fear not, for I have redeemed you . . . ; I have called you by your name; you are Mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you, and through the rivers, they will not overwhelm you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned or scorched, nor will the flame kindle upon you” (Isaiah 43:1b–2).

This is God’s promise. He doesn’t promise to take us completely out of troubles or hardships, but He does promise to be with us as we go through them. “Fear not,” He says. That’s the message we need to ponder. We don’t need to fear because God is with us. And when God is with us, what is there to worry about?

God, despite my failures, You are with me, encouraging me not to give up. Please help me to remember that, with Your help, I can win. In the name of Jesus, I pray. Amen.

You have turned my mourning into dancing for me; You have put off my sackcloth and girded me with gladness.—Psalm 30:11

In Isaiah 61:2 it was prophesied that the coming Messiah would “comfort all who mourn.” In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said those who mourn are blessed for they will be comforted (see Matthew 5:4). The comfort of God that is administered by His Holy Spirit is so awesome it is almost worth having a problem just to be able to experience it. It goes far beyond any kind of ordinary human comfort.

Let God be your source of comfort. In those times when you are hurting, just ask Him to comfort you. Then wait in His presence while He works in your heart and emotions. He will not fail you, if you will only give Him a chance to come to your aid.

Then I said to you, Dread not, neither be afraid of them. The Lord your God Who goes before you, He will fight for you just as He did for you in Egypt before your eyes, and in the wilderness, where you have seen how the Lord your God bore you, as a man carries his son, in all the way that you went until you came to this place. —Deuteronomy 1:29–31

Dread is expecting something unpleasant to happen, and it has nothing to do with faith. Faith looks forward to something good. I believe dread is very deceptive.

Because sometimes it is so subtle that it is imperceptible, it becomes a significant problem that people really need to consider in their lives and see just how it afflicts them. The instant you begin to dread something, your joy starts to go and a “down feeling” sets in. Everything about the devil is down. It is all doom and gloom, depressing and discouraging, negative and yucky. Don’t dread anything, but instead face everything with courage and believe you can do anything you need to do and do it with a good attitude.

We know that lack of confidence, worry, dread, and other tormenting emotions are rooted in fear. Fear is the source of these problems, but you can stop fear. Listen and obey the word of the Lord, and He will fight for you.

Lord, all the dreads that come my way today are no match for You. I thank You that I can face them with boldness and overcome them with joy. Amen.

He who has knowledge spares his words, and a man of understanding has a cool spirit.—Proverbs 17:27

We have said in this devotional that in our quest to hear from God we must train ourselves to listen. Sometimes we are talking so much that we simply cannot hear what God wants to say. We can also miss the important things people say to us because we are not listening.

If we learn the discipline of keeping ourselves calm and quiet, we will hear the things that God wants to say to us. My daughter, Sandra, said that recently, after she prayed, she just sat for a minute and asked God if He had anything He wanted to say to her before she began her day. She felt in her heart that He simply said, “Go; I am with you!” She was comforted by that thought, but it especially comforted her over the next few days when she found herself needing to deal with some unexpected bad news. The word God had given her increased her faith and kept her stable and calm as she faced her trials.

If we don’t listen, we won’t hear. Give God an opportunity on a regular basis to speak to you. When you pray, you don’t have to do all the talking. You can spare your words and be considered a wise man or woman of God.

God’s word for you today: You have one mouth and two ears, so that means God wants you to listen twice as much as you talk.

Let your eyes look right on [with fixed purpose], and let your gaze be straight before you. Consider well the path of your feet, and let all your ways be established and ordered aright. Turn not aside to the right hand or to the left; remove your foot from evil. —Proverbs 4:25–27

Jesus knew what His purpose was. He disciplined Himself to stay on course, living His life to fulfill that purpose for which He came. As Christians, we need to follow in His steps and focus on our purpose. We were bought with a price to live our lives in such a way that we become the salt of the earth, the light of the world (See Matthew 5).

We are to lay down our selfish, self-centered lifestyles, and gear our lives toward doing something for the betterment of someone else. Then we will experience that “joy unspeakable, and full of glory” (1 Peter 1:8).

Therefore, my beloved brethren, be firm (steadfast), immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord [always being superior, excelling, doing more than enough in the service of the Lord], knowing and being continually aware that your labor in the Lord is not futile [it is never wasted or to no purpose]. 1 Corinthians 15:58

Life without purpose is vanity. Webster’s definition of purpose is “something set up as an object or end to be attained.” Christians ought to be people with purpose. We are all purposed to seek the kingdom of God, which is His righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit (See Romans 14:17).

Today is an opportunity to willfully and deliberately seek God with the intent to know Him better than we knew Him yesterday. Today we can deliberately move forward with the intent to accomplish good things for the kingdom.

Give away your life; you’ll find life given back, but not merely given back—given back with bonus and blessing. Giving, not getting, is the way. Generosity begets generosity.” Luke 6:38, The Message

Sometimes we tend to live “backwards”—exactly opposite of the way we should live. We live for ourselves and yet we never seem satisfied . We should live for others – give away our lives – and learn the wonderful secret that what we give away comes back to us multiplied many times over.

When somebody wants to be “number one,” it automatically means a lot of people will be disappointed. Only one person can be the number one runner in the world; only one can be the president of the company or the best-known actor or actress. Only one can be the top author or the best painter in the world. While I believe we should all be goal-oriented and do our best, I don’t believe we should want everything for ourselves and care nothing about other people.

I have lived long enough to try a variety of ways to be happy and have discovered by process of elimination what is effective and what is not. Self-focus and striving to be number one at others’ expense does not make life work the way it was intended to work and is definitely not God’s will for our lives. Instead, He wants us to be aggressive about loving others and helping them get ahead.

Love must be more than a theory or a word; it has to be action. It must be seen and felt. Love is and has always been His idea. He came to love us and to teach us how to love. When we do this, life is exciting, beautiful and rewarding.

Love Someone Today: Lord, help me not to disregard or compete with others in an effort to be number one. I pray for opportunities to show love to others by helping others get ahead and reach their goals in life.