God: "I looked for someone to take a stand for me, and stand in the gap" (Ezekiel 22:30)
So many times I’ve seen men, particularly younger guys, act as if real leadership is shown in correcting others. That’s why young men’s sermons often scold. What they haven’t figured out is that you can often accomplish more by encouragement. There are times to scold. But 80 to 90 percent of what you hope to correct can be accomplished through encouragement. If you look back at your life and consider who influenced you the most, you will probably find that it’s the people who believed in you.
It is hard to imagine anything more tiresome and provoking than the conduct of Thomas... But it is impossible to imagine anything more patient and compassionate than our Lord’s treatment of this weak disciple... Our Lord has many weak children in His family, many dull pupils in His school, many raw soldiers in His army, many lame sheep in His flock. Yet he bears with them all and casts none away.
