WINSTON CHURCHILL WAS 65 YEARS OLD WHEN HE BECAME ENGLAND'S PRIME MINISTER. It was May, 1940 and England's
military was not well armed or prepared for war. So when Hitler's massive army was planning to attack the British Isles, experts
expected Germany to defeat England in no time.
BUT THOSE EXPERTS COULDN'T IMAGINE that in only 7 months, Churchill would change the history of England
and the Western World. During those months, when English families gathered in their homes to listen to their leader over the
radio, their feelings of fear and hopelessness were soon replaced by confidence, hope, and victory. Why? Because Churchill
knew how to get the English people to believe in themselves -- in their own cause and abilities.
It has been said, "People who feel good about themselves do their best." Whether at work, at home with wife
and children, or with friends, it's just as true. So if you want people to change, you have to help them believe in themselves,
so they will want to change and do their best. When we criticize and shame our children, our wives, or people we work with,
we only hurt them and tear down their self-confidence. Why should we expect them to do better when we've made them believe
they can't?
We all do our best when we feel good about ourselves. That's why a successful businessman says, "Instead
of catching people doing something wrong to criticize and punish them, try to catch people doing something right and praise
them for it. Then they will want to keep doing that right thing and always do their best."
This is why Jesus Christ commands you to love others as yourself. Make others feel good about themselves,
the way you want to feel good about yourself. First we must ask Him to forgive us for our past and for treating others wrongly.
Then we ask Him to start changing our hearts, so we can not only become our best, but we can also bring out the best in others.
---- John Robbins
A CHRISTIAN WORKER SAID THAT SOME TIME AGO he realized the problem with the work in his field was this petty
spirit of faultfinding, this readiness to see wrong. He set his face against it and got his people to set their faces against
it by prayer and watching. The result was wonderful! The work had grown and prospered since they had put those "weeds" out
of the garden. This curse of faultfinding grows unconsciously. Shall we resolve by God's grace that if we cannot speak well
of one another, we will not speak ill of one another? --- A. B. Simpson
"So we should not judge each other any longer ... We should seek those things that bring peace and things
that will encourage and give strength to each other." ROMANS 14:13, 19
