Deuteronomy 1:28
"Whither shall we go up? our brethren have discouraged our heart, saying, The people is greater and taller than we; the cities are great and walled up to heaven; and moreover we have seen the sons of the Anakims there."
It is often talked about much in Christianity how discouraging it can get fighting the world system.
When you see what is against you and how powerless you feel, it can be discouraging. It is easy to get discouraged when you feel things are getting worse.
However, one would not expect their brethren to discourage them, but that is what happened to the children of Israel. They said, "Whither shall we go up? our brethren have discouraged our heart..." It wasn't the heathen countries that discouraged their heart, but it was their own brethren. It wasn't the size of the armies they faced that discouraged their heart, but it was their own brethren. The very one's who were to encourage them were the one's who discouraged their heart.
Are you guilty of discouraging the hearts of your Christian brothers and sisters? It would be terrible to think that what you have done or are doing is discouraging the hearts of Christians. I find that there are five things that discourages hearts.
First, your words can discourage the hearts of Christians. It says that the words of the spies discouraged their hearts. You must watch that you don't allow negative comments to come from your lips. You may not mean to discourage others with your words, but when your words are constantly negative it can discourage others.
Second, your vision can discourage the hearts of Christians. These spies had no vision but to go back to Egypt, and that discouraged their brethren. Don't have such a small vision that you discourage others. I've learned that a great vision will encourage others. Broaden your vision so that you don't discourage the hearts of Christians.
Third, your direction can discourage the heart of Christians. Sometimes it is not what you say that discourage others, but where you are headed. Always let your direction be an encouraging one. Don't be headed towards an apathetic attitude. Your direction can encourage those who lead you when your direction shows you are going the right way in life.
Fourth, your actions can discourage the heart of Christians. You must watch that your actions don't discourage others. For instance, uninvolvement is a negative action that discourages others. Your uninvolvement in the church program will discourage others from becoming involved. You must watch that you don't discourage others with your actions.
Fifth, you attitude can discourage the heart of Christians. A negative attitude doesn't encourage others, but it discourages them. The attitude that is always seeing the negative will discourage others. Certainly there is something good you can see, and that is what you must train your eye to see so that your don't discourage the hearts of others.
You will notice that the children of Israel didn't take positive actions because their heart was discouraged. Friend, be careful that you aren't discouraging others. When you discourage others, you will keep them from becoming what God wants them to become. Instead of discouraging the hearts of others, make it your daily desire to encourage their hearts. Encouraging the hearts of others is what will make a positive impact in our society and your world.