4 minute read<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cSpeak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute.\u201d (Proverbs 31:8 NIV)<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Speak for those who can\u2019t.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In this year of mayhem, plenty of people had a lot to say. Those are not the people who need help speaking up for themselves. People we need to speak for are those who genuinely need help. Kind-hearted people are taken advantage of because they cannot say no. Uneducated people are taken advantage of because they don\u2019t know any better. Desperate people will do anything for love, not realizing, love isn\u2019t what they are receiving.<\/p>\n\n\n\n One place I worked had a motto, \u201cDon\u2019t say no for them.\u201d In other words, when asking someone to volunteer, don\u2019t assume they will say no. I agree you shouldn\u2019t think people will say no, but sometimes you shouldn\u2019t ask. Not asking someone to do something is a way to speak up for them. People that have boundary issues and can\u2019t say no need help saying no.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If you care about the people around you, you will know those who can\u2019t speak up for themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Pay attention.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Notice the people around you. Look at how they react in certain situations. Watch for their facial expressions. Typically, people do not tell you they need you to speak up for them. Why? Because they are afraid to speak up. <\/p>\n\n\n\n When I was a young store manager, I was training a new assistant. She was younger than me, barely twenty years old. Trying to prepare her for rude customers, we were role-playing scenarios. In this particular situation, I was acting out a customer grumpy about a return, really cranky. My acting skills are better than I realized because, at the end of our training session, I had the poor girl in tears. She couldn\u2019t verbalize that I was pushing too hard. I wasn\u2019t paying attention to her body language to realize I needed to back off. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Each of us is fragile. For Christmas this year, I gave away crystal angels. The delicate bodies break easily. A few of them, I mailed to their recipients. As I wrapped the tiny glass figures in bubble wrap and tissue, I prayed they would arrive safely to their destination, not a wing broken. The delicate figurine\u2019s fragility reminded me how quickly life could shatter. One moment in time can devastate the lives we have forever. When someone\u2019s world shatters, they need protection. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cCarry each other\u2019s burdens, and in this way, you will fulfill the law of Christ.\u201d (<\/em>Galatians 6:2 NIV<\/em><\/a>)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Speaking up for others in love is helping them carry their burdens. Jesus spoke for all of us on the cross. When we protect those who can\u2019t speak for themselves, we\u2019re like Jesus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Stand in the gap for people. Protect them with your words.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Question of the Day:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Who can you protect today by speaking up for them?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Further Reading:<\/strong>Zechariah 14:1-21 NIV<\/a>, Revelation 20:1-15 NIV<\/a>, Psalm 148:1-14 NIV<\/a>, Proverbs 31:8-9 NIV<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" 4 minute read \u201cSpeak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute.\u201d (Proverbs 31:8 NIV) Speak for those who can\u2019t. In this year of mayhem, plenty of people had a lot to say. Those are not the people who need help speaking up for themselves. People we… Continue reading WHO ARE YOU SPEAKING UP FOR IN YOUR LIFE?<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2979","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","without-featured-image"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2979","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2979"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2979\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2980,"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2979\/revisions\/2980"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2979"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2979"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2979"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}