Because of You or Despite You?

Here is a question that can sting. Is your spouse more like Christ because they married you, or in spite of you? The same question works for parents, roommates and close friends.

We often think about whether the people around us are helping us grow. It is harder to ask whether we are helping them. Our tone, our habits and the way we talk about God at home either make following Jesus easier for them or harder.

Hebrews gives us a job description for each other: “let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works.” To provoke here is to stir up, to nudge toward the good. Proverbs says, “Iron sharpeneth iron; so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend.”

Ask the person closest to you this week, gently: What is one thing I could do that would make it easier for you to walk with God? Then listen. It might be the best gift you give them.