My husband walks in the room looking tired and frustrated. His body language says, “Can I have your attention?” I am settled into my favorite chair, with my favorite coffee and a new project on my mind. I am anxious to zone out on my Pinterest phone app. I have a choice: I can make a “deposit” or a “withdrawal.”
This is what it looks like if…
I can make a deposit:
I put my phone down (because the stinkin’ thing is THE most distracting thing on the planet). “Let’s get some fresh air and take a walk, honey.” I sincerely listen, with everything I’ve got. I let him know that I truly believe in him. And more importantly, if God is for him, who can be against him? “I know you are going to overcome this battle, because I’ve seen you do it time and time again.” The old cheer comes up and out of the recesses of my brain, “Jerod, Jerod he’s the man! If he can’t do it, no one can!” We laugh, and I give him a hug and kiss (probably all I needed to do in the 1st place, LOL). Even though I haven’t solved his problems, making that “deposit” into his “account” helps him go from being in the red to being back in black.
A friend apologizes (for the hundredth time) about her messy car, messy house and messy appearance. Her eyes say “I’m failing!”
I can make a deposit:
One of the best things I’ve ever learned how to do, is to see the beauty in somebody, and then to speak it! I honestly confess to my friend, “When I see you, I see beauty. The mess that comes with kiddos, working and serving is not important. But what I do see is that you are investing into people’s lives, and that is priceless AND besides that…you are incredibly beautiful.” Even if the world never acknowledges what she does in a day, it all matters to God. I see that she is storing up treasure in heaven! She is not failing; she is actually succeeding in the most important things!
My child is down. Peers and the inevitable pressures that come with them are so draining.
I can make a deposit:
I take a “mental time machine journey” back to how it felt to be in school. I try to have his young perspective…where he is…right now. I sincerely tell my child, “I wouldn’t change one thing about you.” Part of my job is to teach and correct, but my child needs to know, without a doubt, that I think he is completely wonderful, and perfectly created, just the way he is, and I wouldn’t change one thing about him. No matter how peers criticize him, he won’t find more disapproval with me. I hug him tightly and pray over him, asking God to fill him with His strength and wisdom to resist peer pressure.
A custodian in the mall is doing her job, but she looks rather dejected and weary.
I can make a deposit:
I give her a warm, sincere smile. I look her in the eyes and ask, “How are you doing today?” Then I listen and give her a word of encouragement. It’s certainly not much, but kind words, respect and acknowledgement help her “account balance.”
I wish I could say this is how I choose to act all of the time.
But what if I am the one who is bankrupt?
You see, many times I’m not able to make a deposit because I am overdrawn myself! But dear friends…
We can receive a deposit:
If you want to be rich, let your Father God deposit His love, grace and truth into you! When our account is full from God’s deposits, (when we spend time with Him in His word, in prayer, in worship, in His presence) we have plenty to share with others. Then we can make deposits into others’ accounts all day long, only to receive more into our own again the next morning when we seek Him. You are worth His infinite deposits, and our God will fill you to overflowing, allowing you to share the wealth with the people in your life.
Ephesisans 3:16-19, “I pray that out of His glorious riches He may strengthen you with power through His Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide, and long, and high, and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge–that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.”
1 Thessalonians 5:11 “Encourage one another and build each other up.”
2 Corinthians 1:3-4, “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God.”
1 Corinthians 13:13b “Trust steadily in God, hope unswervingly, love extravagantly. And the best of the three is love.”
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