September 4 Daily Devotional

Bible Reading:

Proverbs 18:14-24

¹⁴The spirit of a man will sustain his infirmity; but a wounded spirit who can bear?
¹⁵The heart of the prudent getteth knowledge; and the ear of the wise seeketh knowledge.
¹⁶A man's gift maketh room for him, and bringeth him before great men.
¹⁷He that is first in his own cause seemeth just; but his neighbour cometh and searcheth him.
¹⁸The lot causeth contentions to cease, and parteth between the mighty.
¹⁹A brother offended is harder to be won than a strong city: and their contentions are like the bars of a castle.
²⁰A man's belly shall be satisfied with the fruit of his mouth; and with the increase of his lips shall he be filled.
²¹Death and life are in the power of the tongue: and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof.
²²Whoso findeth a wife findeth a good thing, and obtaineth favour of the LORD.
²³The poor useth intreaties; but the rich answereth roughly.
²⁴A man that hath friends must shew himself friendly: and there is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother.

Devotional:

Spirits! The spirit of man is tough but tender. It carries him through times of illness. It sustains him during difficult seasons. On the other hand, it can easily be bruised. A brother who is offended is alienated. If a man's spirit is wounded he is a broken man. The wisdom and understanding of the Lord cause us to recognize our need to respect others and to treat them with dignity. We need as parents especially to pray that God will help us not to wound the spirit of a child! We must be alert, for example, to the degree of awareness a child has to the casual comments which, although not even directed to him, find their way into his inner consciousness and rankle and wound.

Wives! God gave man a great favor when He made woman to be his helper. This is true in a general way for all mankind, because marriage is given to all for the orderly managing of society. God, in His common grace, has granted much joy to men through marriage. How special, though, is the Christian wife who seeks for her husband good and not ill all his days. Men, never take for granted this favor God has given you!

Friends! Friends, too, are a blessing from God. Friendships are reciprocal. Each man reaches out and the hands touch. A relationship that grows up from mutual interests and ideals and purposes can be a relationship that is even closer than some family relationships where there are differences of belief and interests. Abraham was called a friend of God (James 2:23). And Jesus told His disciples that they were His friends (John 15:15).

Spirits, wives and friends! These verses seem to deal with different subjects, but they are all concerned with interpersonal relationships. How good God is not only to give us people in our lives to assuage the loneliness of the human heart, but also to give us directions for improving the relationships we sustain with them!