Devotions on F.I.R.E. Year OneSample

Then Job answered and said: “I have heard many such things; miserable comforters are you all!” (Job 16:1-2).

What kind of friend and counselor are you?

Job’s friends and counselors are both insensitive and inaccurate concerning his plight. God Himself assesses their counseling with the following: “For you have not spoken of Me what is right” (Job 42:7). These so-called friends take the wrong approach to Job. Paul writes, “Brethren, if a man is overtaken in any trespass, you who are spiritual restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness, considering yourself lest you also be tempted” (Galatians 6:1). The term “restore” occurs outside the Bible and refers to gently setting broken bones. Job’s friends seek to accuse and not restore him. Moreover, they don’t speak the truth about God like Job. Truth must be accompanied by love. Paul encourages the Ephesians that they should be “speaking the truth in love” (Ephesians 4:15).

Employment Point: Communicate God’s truth accurately and with love.