Have you ever walked down the street, and met people you once knew well. They are not even friendly, although they may have known you for many years. You once worked with these people; you taught them and at the time, you poured everything you had into them. You may have even seen them succeed; because of the work that God used you to do. God blessed them, and they grew and prospered. It was special.

I once had this saying; I made it up. It said, “toot your own horn, lest it not get tooted.” I can look back today and wonder, just why would I say such a thing. It wasn’t about being proud, or boastful, it was about encouraging yourself. I suppose, a good work is never done, unless there are some scoffers, or some insanely jealous folk around. I’ve lived to see some of these people, get back, just what they gave out. And I wasn’t happy. I was sad for them. And you know what; I’d help them all over again, if I could. I would.

When you leave those who’ve made mistakes, out there just by themselves, the enemy works on them very hard. If we’re not very careful, we will be pressured to look only at our mistakes, and even forget that we ever did anything right. There comes a time, when you are going to have to have a good talk with yourself. In this hour, Satan and his hosts, and their followers, are trying to strip you of any good feeling about yourself. Saying that you never did anything right; the world would be a better place without you.

Sometime back, I had to look back down the road, and search for the good things I might have accomplished. The Lord blessed me with the results of my search. This, is not a presentation of carnal pride, it’s about survival. I think that we can all agree, most of the time, there is good in people. Not everything about them is bad. I had joy, when I remembered the students I had worked with; how special they were, even now. I thought of some of the choirs I was privileged to direct and teach; some of the wonderful churches I had worked in. You see, you either love people, or you don’t.

I feel the Spirit talking to someone today. Stop thinking about what other people think about you. If they are thoughtless, and want to be that kind of person, let them be. Talk to the Lord. Ask Him what He thinks about you, and if He has stored up, the good you have tried to do. Don’t ever doubt, that the things you tried to do for Him, the ways you tried to follow His Spirit, didn’t add up. In spite of the mistakes or shortcomings you stumbled with, there is a record that has been kept. If we keep trying, the good, will outweigh the bad.

~ Robert Blackburn

Robert Blackburn