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Read along with today’s devotional: https://odb.org/2023/12/02/building-up-goodwill

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Our Daily Bread Ministries helps millions of people connect with God each day. For more than 75 years, our purpose has remained the same: to reach people with the life-changing wisdom of the Bible. 

All Scripture from the New International Version, unless otherwise noted.

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When we think of best business practices, what first comes to mind probably aren’t qualities like kindness and generosity. But according to entrepreneur James Rhee, they should. In Rhee’s experience as CEO at a company on the brink of financial ruin, prioritizing what he calls “goodwill”—a “culture of kindness” and a spirit of giving—saved the company and led to its flourishing. Putting these qualities central gave people the hope and motivation they needed to unify, innovate, and problem-solve. Rhee explains that “goodwill . . . is a real asset that can compound and be amplified.”

In daily life too, it’s easy to think of qualities like kindness as vague and intangible, afterthoughts to our other priorities. But, as the apostle Paul taught, such qualities matter most of all.

Writing to new believers, Paul emphasized that the purpose of believers’ lives is transformation through the Spirit into mature members of the body of Christ (Ephesians 4:15). To that end, every word and every action has value only if it builds up and benefits others (v. 29). Transformation in Jesus can only happen through daily prioritizing kindness, compassion, and forgiveness (v. 32).

As we grow closer together through Christ’s Spirit, we daily learn anew the true, priceless value of God’s goodwill living in us.

Helping you connect with God. Every day. Every way. 

Read along with today’s devotional: https://odb.org/2023/12/01/gods-heart-for-all

Want to get Our Daily Bread’s daily devotionals delivered to your inbox or mailbox? Subscribe for free here: https://odb.org. 

Our Daily Bread Ministries helps millions of people connect with God each day. For more than 75 years, our purpose has remained the same: to reach people with the life-changing wisdom of the Bible. 

All Scripture from the New International Version, unless otherwise noted.

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Your generous support helps us make the life-changing wisdom of the Bible understandable and accessible to people around the world. https://donations.ourdailybread.org/intm9.html?motivation=INTM9 

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God Hears Her: https://www.godhearsher.org/podcast

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Nine-year-old Dan Gill arrived with his best friend Archie at their classmate’s birthday party. When the mother of the birthday boy saw Archie, however, she refused him entry. “There aren’t enough chairs,” she insisted. Dan offered to sit on the floor to make room for his friend, who was Black, but the mother said no. Dejected, Dan left their presents with her and returned home with Archie, the sting of his friend’s rejection searing his heart.

Now, decades later, Dan is a schoolteacher who keeps one empty chair in his classroom. When students ask why, he explains it’s his reminder to “always have room in the classroom for anyone.”

A heart for all people can be seen in Jesus’ welcoming life: “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28). This invitation may seem to contradict the “first to the Jew” scope of Jesus’ ministry (Romans 1:16). But the gift of salvation is for all people who place their faith in Jesus. “This is true for everyone who believes,” Paul wrote, “no matter who we are” (Romans 3:22 nlt).

We rejoice then at Jesus’ invitation to all: “Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls” (Matthew 11:29). For all seeking His rest, His open heart awaits.

Helping you connect with God. Every day. Every way. 

Read along with today’s devotional: https://odb.org/2023/11/30/trusting-god

Want to get Our Daily Bread’s daily devotionals delivered to your inbox or mailbox? Subscribe for free here: https://odb.org. 

Our Daily Bread Ministries helps millions of people connect with God each day. For more than 75 years, our purpose has remained the same: to reach people with the life-changing wisdom of the Bible. 

All Scripture from the New International Version, unless otherwise noted.

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Your generous support helps us make the life-changing wisdom of the Bible understandable and accessible to people around the world. https://donations.ourdailybread.org/intm9.html?motivation=INTM9 

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I needed two medications urgently. One was for my mom’s allergies and the other for my niece’s eczema. Their discomfort was worsening, but the medicines were no longer available in pharmacies. Desperate and helpless, I prayed repeatedly, Lord, please help them.

Weeks later, their conditions became manageable. God seemed to be saying: “There are times when I use medicines to heal. But medicines don’t have the final say; I do. Don’t place your trust in them, but in Me.”   

In Psalm 20, King David took comfort in God’s trustworthiness. The Israelites had a powerful army, but they knew that their biggest strength came from “the name of the Lord” (v. 7). They placed their trust in God’s name—in who He is, His unchanging character, and unfailing promises. They held on to the truth that He who is sovereign and powerful over all situations would hear their prayers and deliver them from their enemies (v. 6).  

While God may use the resources of this world to help us, ultimately, victory over our problems comes from Him. Whether He gives us a resolution or the grace to endure, we can trust that He’ll be to us all that He says He is. We don’t have to be overwhelmed by our troubles, but we can face them with His hope and peace.     

Helping you connect with God. Every day. Every way. 

Read along with today’s devotional: https://odb.org/2023/11/29/just-a-whisper

Want to get Our Daily Bread’s daily devotionals delivered to your inbox or mailbox? Subscribe for free here: https://odb.org. 

Our Daily Bread Ministries helps millions of people connect with God each day. For more than 75 years, our purpose has remained the same: to reach people with the life-changing wisdom of the Bible. 

All Scripture from the New International Version, unless otherwise noted.

SUPPORT Our Daily Bread

Your generous support helps us make the life-changing wisdom of the Bible understandable and accessible to people around the world. https://donations.ourdailybread.org/intm9.html?motivation=INTM9 

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The whispering wall in New York City’s Grand Central Station is an acoustic oasis from the clamor of the area. This unique spot allows people to communicate quiet messages from a distance of thirty feet apart. When one person stands at the base of a granite archway and speaks softly into the wall, soundwaves travel up and over the curved stone to the listener on the other side.

Job heard the whisper of a message when his life was filled with noise and the tragedy of losing nearly everything (see Job 1:13–19; 2:7). His friends blabbered their opinions, his own thoughts tumbled endlessly, and trouble had invaded every aspect of his existence. Still, the majesty of nature spoke softly to him about God’s divine power.

The splendor of the skies, the mystery of the earth suspended in space, and the stability of the horizon reminded Job that the world was in the palm of God’s hand (26:7–11). Even a churning sea and a rumbling atmosphere led him to say, “these are but the outer fringe of [God’s] works; how faint the whisper we hear of him” (v. 14).

If the world’s wonders represent just a tiny fragment of God’s capabilities, it’s clear that His power exceeds our ability to understand it. In times of brokenness and disappointment, this gives us hope. God can do anything, including what He did for Job as He sustained him during suffering.

Helping you connect with God. Every day. Every way. 

Read along with today’s devotional: https://odb.org/2023/11/28/the-skill-of-compassion

Want to get Our Daily Bread’s daily devotionals delivered to your inbox or mailbox? Subscribe for free here: https://odb.org. 

Our Daily Bread Ministries helps millions of people connect with God each day. For more than 75 years, our purpose has remained the same: to reach people with the life-changing wisdom of the Bible. 

All Scripture from the New International Version, unless otherwise noted.

SUPPORT Our Daily Bread

Your generous support helps us make the life-changing wisdom of the Bible understandable and accessible to people around the world. https://donations.ourdailybread.org/intm9.html?motivation=INTM9 

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God Hears Her: https://www.godhearsher.org/podcast

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“A thorn has entered your foot—that is why you weep at times at night,” wrote Catherine of Sienna in the fourteenth century. She continued, “There are some in this world who can pull it out. The skill that takes they have learned from [God].” Catherine devoted her life to cultivating that “skill,” and is still remembered today for her remarkable capacity for empathy and compassion for others in their pain. 

That image of pain as a deeply embedded thorn that requires tenderness and skill to remove lingers with me. It’s a vivid reminder of how complex and wounded we are, and of our need to dig deeper to develop true compassion for ourselves and others.

Or, as the apostle Paul describes it, it’s an image that reminds me that loving others like Jesus does requires more than good intentions and well-wishes—it requires being “devoted to one another” (Romans 12:10), “joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer” (v. 12). It requires being willing to not only “rejoice with those who rejoice” but to “mourn with those who mourn” (v. 15). It requires all of us.

In a broken world, none of us escape unwounded—hurt and scars are deeply embedded in each of us. But deeper still is the love we find in Christ; love tender enough to draw out those thorns with the balm of compassion, willing to embrace both friend and enemy (v. 14) to find healing together.