Don’t Let Discouragement Choke You!
Discouragement is a temptation “common to man” (1 Corinthians 10:13). And in dealing with it sometimes we need tenderness and other times we need toughness. But either way discouragement is not to be tolerated or wallowed in. It’s to be fought. If we linger in discouragement it can be costly; I've been there more than once. It is a sense of defeat and hopelessness that steals our hope and faith in Jesus. It can consume a lot of time. It can keep us from doing what we need to do, because we don’t want to face it. And it can even be contagious, weakening others’ faith. When we feel discouraged we want comfort, which is right to feel. But sometimes the comforts we turn to are ways to avoid our discouragements rather than ways to muster our courage to face and overcome them. When this happens discouragement can become sinful indulgence in unbelief, leading to other sins. Jesus does not want us to be discouraged. Listen to what Jesus says to his disciples ...