Joel Osteen Podcast - Bringing Out The Best In People | Joel Osteen

Episode Date: January 26, 2024

You have something to offer the people in your life that no one else can give. When you take time to build up and encourage others, you're empowering them to become all that God created them to be. Your best days are still ahead, and together we can make a difference in this world with the message of God's hope and love. To give visit JoelOsteen.com/GiveHope.Stay inspired through every season with the 2024 Today’s Word Devotional. Our January offer has a Scripture verse, reflection, and prayer for each day. Let God transform every aspect of your life as you walk day by day through this new year. Request your copy now, https://bit.ly/4aK143y.  Subscribe to SiriusXM Podcasts+ to listen to new episodes of the Joel Osteen Podcast ad-free and a whole week early. Start a free trial now on Apple Podcasts or by visiting siriusxm.com/podcastsplus. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Hi, this is Joel and Victoria. Thanks so much for listening to the podcast. We have a new resource. It's a 2024 daily devotional. We'd love to send it to you. It'll help you start the day off right. You will love this devotional. And know this.

We are praying for you, and we are believing for God's very best for you in 2024. God bless you. It is always a joy to come into your homes. We love you, and we count you as a part of our extended family. And thanks for tuning in each week. And if you're ever in our area, I hope that you'll stop by and see us. You'll love our new facility.

These are the finest people in all of Houston right here at Lakewood. So come out and be a part of one of our services. We'd love to have you. I like to get started each week with something kind of funny. And I heard about this pastor that skipped church one Sunday morning to go bear hunting. He got his gun and he went out in the woods and he searched and searched and searched. But he didn't see any sign of a bear. Finally, he got frustrated and threw his gun down and went down to the

the stream to kind of cool off. About that time, he saw this huge grizzly bear running full speed toward him. He fell down on his knees and said, God, please protect me. God, I'm praying that you would convert this bear into being a Christian. Miraculously, the bear stopped in his tracks, lifted up his paws toward the heavens, and said, thank you, Lord, for this food I'm about to eat. Hold up your Bibles and say it with me. Are you ready? This is my Bible. I am what it says I am. have what it says I have. I can do what it says I can do. Today I will be taught the word of God. I boldly confess, my mind is alert, my heart is receptive, I will never be the same. In Jesus' name, God bless you. I want to talk to you today about bringing out the best in people. I believe that God

puts people in our lives on purpose so that we can help them succeed and help them become all God's created them to be. Most people will not reach their full potential without somebody else believing in them. That means you and I have an assignment. Everywhere we go, we should be encouraging people, building them up, challenging them to reach for new heights. And when people are around us, they should leave better off than they were before. Not negative, discouraged, defeated, no challenged and inspired. And the scripture says here in 1 Corinthians 13 verse 4 that love is kind. One translation says, love looks for a way of being constructive.

In other words, love looks for ways of improving somebody else's life. I want to encourage you today to take time to make a difference. Don't just get up in the morning thinking about yourself and how you can make your life better. Think about how you can make somebody else's life better. Our attitude should be, who can I encourage today? Who can I build up? How can I improve somebody else's life? See, you have something to offer that nobody else can give.

Somebody needs your encouragement. Somebody needs to know that you believe in them, that you're for them, that you think they've got what it takes. If you look back over your own life, most likely you'll see someone that played a very pivotal role in helping you get to where you are today. Somebody had confidence in you. Maybe a parent or a teacher,

they made you believe you can do what you're doing. Maybe it was a boss that put you in a higher position even though you didn't feel qualified. Or a school counselor that said, you've got what it takes. You can go to this college. You can be successful in this career. But most of the time,

they saw something in you that you may not have even seen in yourself and they helped you get to that next level. Well, I'm asking you to do the same thing for somebody else. Who are you believing in? Who are you cheering on? Who are you helping to become successful? Friends, there's no greater investment in life

than in being a people builder. Relationships are more important than our accomplishments. And I believe that God's going to hold us responsible for the people that he's put in our lives. He's counting on us to bring out the best in our spouse, the best in our children, the best in our friends and our coworkers. And we need to ask ourselves, am I improving somebody's life, giving them confidence,

or am I just coasting along doing my own thing? I remember when I was in middle school, I was on the basketball team, and one of our first games was coming up later that week. And I was one of the smaller players. We were playing this real good team. They had a bunch of big guys. And it was very easy to be intimidated.

I can't say that I had that much confidence. But I was walking through the hallways of school one day in between classes. And I'll never forget, my basketball coach called me over to where he was in front of all of my other friends. He was a big, strong, tough coach, kind of a gruff guy. And he said, Joel, you're not that tall. But let me tell you, size doesn't matter. What counts is right down in here. here. He pointed his finger and he said, Joel, you got a big heart and you're going to do great

this year. Man, when I heard that, I stood up tall, put my shoulders back. You would have thought I was Michael Jordan. I thought to myself, this coach believes in me. My confidence shot up to a whole new level. And do you know, I did better that year than I'd ever done before? It's amazing what we can accomplish when we know somebody really believes in us. And that coach, he didn't have to do that. He could have stood over there all by himself. But no, he took time to make a difference. He took time to instill that confidence in me. And if we're going to bring out the best in people,

we've got to learn to sow these seeds of encouragement. Well, you say, Joel, nobody's doing it for me. Why should I? No, if you want your life to increase, if you want your life to get better, then you need to sow a seed by helping improve somebody else's life. If you will help somebody else become successful, God will make sure that you are always successful. That's one thing I've loved about Victoria. She's always believed in me. She's my biggest supporter,

my biggest fan. Victoria thinks that I'm the greatest person on the face of this earth. And I know that's not true, but I like the fact that at least she thinks of it. And listen, don't you dare tell her anything otherwise. But Victoria thinks that I can do anything. She's always bringing out the the best in me. I remember one time we were going to build a house. We had sold our other house and bought this property and it came time to build. And so I picked up the phone to call our builder friend

and get everything lined up. And she said, Joel, what are you doing that for? We don't need a builder. You can build a house. I said, Victoria, I don't know how to build a house. I don't know anything about construction. She said, sure, you do, Joel. You were at our other house practically every day when they were building it. You saw how they did it.

You can get those subcontractors lined up. as good as anybody else. Sure enough, she'd talk me into it. I ended up building our house. It turned out pretty good. I forgot the plumbing, but other than that is okay. But seriously, Victoria, one thing I know is she has confidence in me. And I don't believe that I would be standing up here today if she had not told me years ago that one day I was going to pastor this church. Ten or 15 years ago, I had never spoken, didn't have any desire. Yet she said, Joel, she'd see my dad up here. One day, that's going to be you up there. You have so much to offer. One day, you're going to be helping a lot of people. See, she saw things in me that I didn't even see in myself, and she just

kept planting those seeds of encouragement. And I didn't think I could do it. I didn't like getting up in front of people. I'd never been to seminary. And I used to say, Victoria, I wish you'd quit saying that. That's just not me. I'm not a preacher. She'd say, no, Joel, I can see it in you. You do have what it takes. And when my father went to be with the Lord, there were two things that had a major impact on me. One was all the seeds of encouragement that Victoria had some. The other thing is when I first started ministering, as I said, I was so nervous. I didn't know I could do it. But one thing that kept me going is every time I got up here to speak, many of you, the people of Lakewood, just cheered me on. I mean, you clapped and you clapped and

you clapped before I even began my message. I could have been terrible, but you just kept cheering me on. You kept giving me that confidence that I needed. And after a few months, I begin to realize that, I don't know why I'm such a cry baby, but I am. But after a few months, I begin to realize that you believed in me. Begin to realize that, you know, hey, these people think that I can do it. They did something on the inside. You know what happened? You brought out the best in me.

Okay. Let me tell you this, I'm committed to bringing out the best in you. You have things on the inside of you, just like I had. and talents that you've never even dreamed of, you can go further. You can accomplish more. You've got seeds of greatness in you. As long as I'm up here, I'm going to keep challenging you to rise higher, to press forward, to don't settle for the status quo. You can accomplish your dreams. You can overcome any challenge that's before you. You can break any addiction. You've got the power of the most high God on the inside of you. Why don't you rise up and start

believing in yourself. Why don't you start acting like it's true? See, the Bible says in 1st Corinthians 8, verse 1, that love encourages people to grow to their full stature. That's what I want to do to you to encourage you to go further. I want to challenge you to encourage others to do the same thing. See, when you believe the best in people, you help to bring the best out of those people. I heard a story about a lady named Lou Ann Johnson. She had a very successful career and everything was going great in her life, but she just wasn't satisfied. She had a desire deep down on the inside to help troubled teenagers. And so one day, she quit her job, making a lot of money, and she went to work as a school teacher in one of the roughest schools in California. This high school was

known for its drugs and gains and all kinds of problems. It had one of the highest dropout rates of any school. They could hardly even keep teachers at this school because the students were so wild and so rebellious and nobody thought this new lady would ever last. But Ms. Johnson took a different approach. On the first day of school, she asked her students to write down their names and addresses and a little bit about themselves. And while they were doing that, she walked up and down the rows and secretly memorized each student's name. When they got finished, she announced to the class that we're about to have our first test. And the students all moaned and groaned. She said, no, the test isn't for you, the test is for me. She explained that if I can call each one of you by name correctly,

then I pass the test. But if I miss even one of your names, then every one of you will get an automatic A on our first real test. The students were very excited. So she went up and down the row, and one by one, she correctly called each student's name. They were very impressed. She said to them, listen, class, the reason I did this is to show you that you are important to me. And when I look at you, I not only like you, but I care about you. That's the reason I'm here. And all of a sudden, these students begin to realize this teacher was different. She's not just here to get a paycheck, not just trying to get by. This lady believes in us. This lady thinks that we can become something. One day, Ms. Johnson got word that one of the

roughest students in her class, a young man named Raoul, owed one of the street games. And $100. It was a very dangerous situation. He didn't have the money. And she asked him to stay after class. And she said, Royol, I've heard about your dilemma. And I want to loan you the money. But I'll do it only under one condition. He was a sophomore. She said, I'll give you this money if you promise to pay me back on the day that you graduate. And you've got to understand, Ra'ol was the least likely one to graduate. His brothers and sisters that went before him, they had not graduated. He His parents only had a second grade education. But this simple act of kindness so touched his heart.

Nobody had ever shown him that kind of love. Nobody had ever believed in him enough to think that he could actually graduate. Ms. Johnson had the students keep a journal. The week before, she had asked them to write down the nicest thing anyone had ever done for them. Ryle said, Miss Johnson, last week I had to make up something because I can't ever remember anybody doing anything nice for me. but he said, what you did for me today, I will never forget. He went on to say, Ms. Johnson, I will not let you down.

I will graduate, because if you think I can do it, then I know I can do it. And see, this lady believed in her students so much, they begin to believe in themselves. Long story short, Raoul ended up being the first one in his family to ever earn a high school diploma. And there are so many people out there just like this today. They simply need somebody to spark a little bit of hope. Somebody to say, yes, you can do it. Yes, you can pastor the church. Yes, you can take that new position.

Yes, you can overcome that addiction. You've got what it takes. And understand, when you believe the best in people, you help to draw the best out of people. And it may not be something as drastic as Raoul, but let me ask you, are you believing the best in your own children? are you instilling the confidence in them that they need, telling them that they're going to do great things in life?

Are you believing the best in your loved ones? Maybe some of them have gotten off course. Well, have you given up on them? Have you written them off? Oh, Joel, I've been praying for 10 years. They're never going to change. Now, why don't you dare reach out to them like this lady did? Make sure they know that you're concerned.

Make sure they know that you really believe in them. And here's the key. don't focus on what they are right now. Focus on what they can become. See the potential on the inside. They may have some bad habits. They may be doing some things that you don't like, but don't judge them for it.

Don't look down on them and be critical. No, just challenge them to rise higher. Tell them, hey, I'm praying for you. I'm believing you're going to break that addiction. I'm believing for great things in your life. You'll be amazed at how people respond when they really know you care. I heard somebody say,

people don't want to know how much we know until they know how much we care. In other words, people are not going to take our advice until they really know that we believe in them, until they know that we're genuinely concerned. And really, this is what Jesus did. Everywhere he went, he saw potential in people

that they didn't even see in themselves. He didn't focus on their weaknesses. He didn't just look at their faults. He saw them the way they could become. I think about Peter. He had a lot of rough edges. He was hot-tempered. He was loud.

He would tell you what he thought. But you know, that didn't necessarily bother Jesus. Jesus didn't say, forget it, Peter. I'm going to go find somebody a little more perfect than you. No, Jesus worked with Peter to bring the best out of him. It was in there. He just had to get it out. And let me tell you, you never bring out the best by condemning and criticizing.

You don't bring out the best. best by beating people down. You bring it out by love. You bring it out by showing people that you care. It's interesting. Peter's name literally meant pebble. It meant small stone. But Jesus saw so much more in Peter. He said, Peter, I'm going to give you a new name. Your new name is going to be Cephas, which means a rock. In other words, God said, you are a pebble right now. But when I get finished with you, you're going to be a rock. You're going to be strong. You're going to be solid. You're going to be secure. That's what we've got to learn to do. See the best in people, see the potential, and then urge them to go forward. Henry Ford said, my best friend is the one that brings out the

best in me. I don't know about you, but I don't like to be around people that are negative and critical, people that are always complaining, always telling you what you can't do. All that does is drag you down. All that does is take the life and energy out of us. Now, if we're going to bring out the best in people. We got to learn to keep a smile on our face. We need to be positive. And don't go around judging people. Let me say it again. You don't bring out the best by criticizing. You bring it out by encouraging people. Your friends, your family, they may do some things you don't like. They may have some bad habits. But don't focus on their weaknesses. Find something they're doing right and encourage them for that. And I'm not saying that you just sweep things under the rug. But at the right time,

once you've gained their respect, you can encourage them and challenge them to rise up higher. But we should never do it through being a fault finder and through being critical. Remember, we all have weaknesses. And people respond to praise and encouragement, not criticism and condemnation. We've got to learn to magnify what's right in a person, not what's wrong in a person. And I've found if you will treat somebody the way you want them to be, they are much more likely to become that person. They're much more likely to change. For instance, if your husband is not treating you with as much respect as you know he should,

well don't sink down to his level and be disrespectful as well. No, sow a seed. Treat him respectfully anyway and watch that man begin to change. If he's lazy, treat him like he's a hard worker. He may do a thousand things you don't like, but you're going to have to find the one thing you do like and encourage him for that. See, it is so easy in life to sit around and nitpick. be a fault finder, be critical, be negative. Friends, that is not our job. Our job is to bring out the best in people.

Our job is to encourage, to build up, to challenge people to rise higher. And let me say it again, people respond to praise, not to criticism. I heard about this man that went out to get his paper one morning. When he opened up the front door, the little dog that lived across the street was bringing his paper to him. And he thought, what do you know? That's great. And he ran back in and got the dog a treat. And that little dog left there just as happy as can be. The next morning, when he went to get the paper, he opened up the door, and that little dog was sitting there, and next to him, there were eight of the neighbor's newspapers. He had gone up and down the street, collecting all those newspapers. I guess he figured

if he got one treat for one newspaper, he's going to get eight treats today. And basically, that's the way human nature is. We do a whole lot more when we're praised and appreciate it. And husbands and wives, we should be each other's greatest cheerleader. Take time to praise your wife. Take time to compliment your husband. Don't get lazy in this area. And learn not to take each other for granted. I know the other day, Victoria walked by me. She looked so beautiful. She was all dressed up and had her hair all fixed. And I thought to myself, man, she looks great today. She looks so beautiful. But I was busy doing my thing, working at my desk. I didn't want to slow down. I didn't want to be interrupted.

And I kind of thought to myself anyway, she knows I think she's beautiful. I've told her thousands of times. And so I just let it pass. I miss that opportunity to sow a compliment. No, don't be lazy. She may know it, he may know it, but they need to hear it again and again and again. Every day we should compliment each other. I heard somebody say complimenting each other is like the glue that holds relationships

together. There are so many things that are trying to pull us apart today. It's amazing what a little kind word here and there will do. Honey, you look beautiful today. Thanks for cleaning up after me. Or, hey, you did great on your project last week. Those simple little things can help keep our relationships strong. I know every time I get finished speaking and I walk off the platform without fail,

every single time, Victoria will tell me, Joel, that was great today. Now, it may have been the worst message in the world. It doesn't matter. She's still going to tell me it was great. And you know what? That's fine with me. It's okay to lie about stuff like that. Some of you women, you're telling your husband, honey, you are so handsome.

You're either calling it by faith or you're lying. But either way, it's all right. We walked off the other day, and Victoria said, Joel, that was spectacular today. Man, I felt good. The next Sunday she went back to saying, Joel, that was great today. I said, what do you mean great? How about spectacular? She's got me spoiled now, but we need each other.

be free with your compliments. Remember, your thoughts don't bless anybody. You can think good thoughts about somebody all day long, but it's not going to do them one bit of good. You've got to verbalize it. You've got to speak it out. And every day, we should find somebody we can compliment. Find somebody you can build up.

A waiter at the restaurant. If he gives you good service, don't just think about it. Tell him, hey, thanks for being such a good waiter. Thanks for taking good care of us today. That does something on the inside of him. Somebody told me last week, they were at the grocery store in line to pay, and this young lady that was running the register was having a tough, tough time. And the people in the line started getting aggravated and being a little bit short with her. And when he got up there, he said he decided he wasn't going to be a part of the problem.

He wasn't going to do what everybody else was doing. He was going to be a part of the solution. And he just smiled real big. And he said, ma'am, I just want to tell you, I think you're doing a great job. And we just appreciate you trying so hard. That young lady just brightened up. It was like he lifted a load of heavy bricks off of her. And she said, sir, do you know I've been working here for three months?

And you're the first person to ever tell me anything like that. And I thought, really, that's a sad reflection on our society. People are so critical. They're fault finders. They don't have any problem pointing out all you're doing wrong, but they wouldn't dare take the time to point out anything you're doing right. I don't know about you, but I'm not going to live my life like that. I'm going to be a giver and not a taker.

I'm going to build people up and not tear them down. I'm going to do my best to leave places better off than they were before. Now I was thinking about there are a lot of things in life that we can be known for. We're all leaving a legacy. But a hundred years from now, I want to be known as somebody that brought out the best in people. Somebody that left the world a better place. We can have all kinds of accomplishments. But soon they will be forgotten.

The only thing that's going to really last is the investment. investment we make in other people's lives. I want to bring the best out of my wife. I want to bring the best out of my children, the best out of my friends. I want people to say, I like being around him. He encourages me to go higher in his actions, in his attitude, his integrity, the way he treats people. That inspires me to be better. That's the kind of people we need to strive to be. The scripture says, iron sharpens iron. The way we live our lives, our examples should inspire people to do better. We should inspire people to press forward and to become all God's created them to be. And we need to ask ourselves today, are the people in my life better off or worse off because of me?

Am I building them up and bringing out the best, or am I just dragging them down? Do I believe in somebody? Do I give them confidence improving their lives? or am I just focused on myself? Now let's make decisions today that we're going to be people builders. I know over the last few years I've gotten some very complimentary letters from famous people, movie stars,

government leaders, pro athletes, and it's very flattering, it's very honoring. But the greatest compliment I ever received came just a couple of weeks ago when Victoria stood up here and in front of all of you. She said, after living with Joel, these last 18 years, I can tell you that I'm a better person. I've got more confidence. I'm

kinder. I've got a better attitude. I've grown. I've been challenged. That's the greatest compliment I could ever receive. And of course, I could say the same thing about her. But my point is, that's the mark of a people builder. And everywhere we go, we should leave people better off than they were before. That man at the gas station impart something into his life. The lady at the grocery store, don't complain, take time to give a compliment. Your friends, your coworkers, build them up. Everywhere you go, you should be making deposits, not withdrawals. When we get up in the morning, we shouldn't try to figure out how we can get blessed. Let's figure out how we can be a blessing. If you will make somebody else's day, God will always make your own day. And I know in my own life,

I've been so blessed to have people that believed in me, my parents, my wife. My parents, my wife, my family. And that's all great. But the real question today is who am I believing in? Who am I cheering on? Who am I helping to succeed? Friends, you have something to offer that nobody else can give. And true love looks for ways to improve other people's lives. I want to challenge you to bring out the best in the people that God has put in your life. You're never more like God than when you give. The closest thing to his heart is helping others. If you will be a people-builder, focused on bringing out the best in others, I can promise you this, God will bring out the best in you. When you help somebody else succeed, God will make sure you not only succeed, but he'll take

your places that you've never even dreamed of. Amen. Do you receive it this morning? We never like to close our broadcast without giving you an opportunity to make Jesus the Lord of your life. Would you pray with me? Just say, Lord Jesus, I repent of my sins. Come into my heart. I make you, my Lord and Savior. If you prayed that simple prayer, we believe you got born again. Get in a good Bible-based church. Keep God first place. He's going to take your places that you've never dreamed out.

It's January. Time to renew my faith. It's January. It's time to start a new season. It's January. There is no better time than now to set the course of our year ahead. The beginning of the year is a great time to start a fresh and anew, to let go of negative things of the past, and to get ready for the new things God has in store.

Every January, we create a new devotional calendar that will help you throughout the year. When you start the day off in faith, grateful for what God's done, making positive declarations over your future, you're setting the tone for a blessed day and a victorious year. This devotional will help you get your mind going in the right direction so you can go out each day in faith, knowing that God is in control and that his plans for you are for good. I'd love to send you a copy. As our way of saying thank you for your gift of any amount this first month of the year,

we would like to send you a copy of our brand new 24, 365-day devotional calendar. Do you want to set a faith course for your life in 2024? Do you want to see your life take off in new directions of influence, favor, and provision in the year ahead? Using this devotional calendar is as easy as one, two, three. One, wake up with an expectancy in your heart. Two, reflect on the daily scripture verse and devotional from Joel. Three, capture God's promises to you on journaling lines for writing and reflection. Be sure to request your copy of the 2024 devotional calendar available this one.

month by simply visiting us at joel osteen.com or calling 888-567 joel