Making Deposits Everywhere You Go | Joel Osteen

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Thank you for tuning in and thank you again for coming out today. I'd like to start with something funny. One day Adam was feeling very lonely. God said, "Adam, I'm going to make you a companion. It's going to be called a woman."

This person will cook for you, wash your clothes. She will bear you children. Never ask you to get up in the middle of the night. She will not mag you. She will agree with every decision you make.

And if you ever have a disagreement, she'll be the first to admit she was wrong. Adam said, "Wow, God, what will a woman like this cost?" God said, "An arm and a leg?" Adam said, "What can I get for a rib and the rest is history?" Hold up your Bible.

“Say it like you're me that this is my Bible.”

I am what it says I am. I 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 making deposits everywhere you go. The way to make a deposit is to make people feel better about themselves. When you give a compliment, you look nice today. A great job on that presentation at the office.

Those are not just kind words you made a deposit. When you express thanks, I appreciate you. Thanks for being in my life. That's a deposit. Even simple things.

You walk over to the park and attend it. Shake their hand. Good morning. How are you today? The fact that you took time to show respect.

You went out of your way to make them feel special. You made a deposit. And all through the day, we should look for these opportunities. Who can I bless? Who can I encourage?

“How can I make somebody feel better about themselves?”

My friend Johnny and I, we worked in the television department here at Lakewood when we were in our early 20s. A couple of times a week, we'd go down to the cafeteria to have lunch.

Johnny's always been very friendly, very likable.

In the cafeteria line, he would see the lady's name tags serving us. Johnny would always call them by name. Susie, I'd like some green beans, please. Thank you so much. Marie, I'll take some macaroni and cheese.

You have a great day. Beverly, how about a piece of fish? And I really appreciate it. He would bring a smile to their face. It's funny one time this Nigerian lady was serving us.

Her name had more letters than the alphabet. Johnny looked at that name. I'll never forget it. He squinted. After a long pause, he said, honey, I'll take a roll.

We would get down to the, where you check out the cash register. I'd look back and all those ladies serving would be full of joy. Laughing, talking. He made their day. It got to the point when they saw Johnny in the line.

We could be 50 people back. They'd start waving. Here he comes again. We always just thought the Johnny needed prayer. But now I realize he was making a deposit.

He was brightening people's day. And the scripture talks about how we should leave places better off than they were before. When you leave the office each day, you leave the gym. You leave your house. Are people better off than they were before?

Did you take time to encourage anyone? Did you lift their spirits? Were you pleasant to be around? Or were you too busy? Too stressed out.

Discuraged grumpy. Sad to say, but when some people leave, you're glad to see them go. They always are complaining. Have a sad story, negative.

Bring in everybody down. Don't let that be you. When you leave, people should miss you. They should miss the joy. The peace.

The encouraging words. The compliments. The kind spirit. Don't drag places down. Leave them better off.

Take time to make a deposit. Everywhere you go, at the grocery store. You may not be as outgoing as Johnny, but you can go to the cashier and say, "Thank you so much. Have a blessed day."

That didn't take a lot of extra effort, but you just made a deposit. You don't know what that person is going through. They may seem fine on the outside, but you don't know what's going on at home.

The disappointments they've been through.

The challenges that are in front of them. I was in line at a grocery store waiting to check out. Years ago, and the young lady at the register seemed very distracted. She kept making mistakes. The register got jammed.

And item didn't have a price on it. Everything that could go wrong did. People in the line were very frustrated. Starting to complain. Some of them, when they got up to her, were very rude and short with her.

I thought this young lady has enough going wrong. I'm not going to be a part of the problem. I'm going to be a part of the solution. When I walked up, I just smiled and said, "I know it's kind of stressful. People are being rude,

but I'm going to be praying for you. I know everything is going to get better." Her eyes got real big.

“She said, "As sincere as can be, would you pray for me?”

My little baby is in the hospital, and I'm so worried about him." We took 30 seconds right then and there and prayed. Made the line even longer. People even matter.

The lady behind me in line, she overheard it and said to that young girl, "My best friend is the head nurse at that hospital. I'm going to have her go check on your baby. The whole atmosphere changed.

When we left, she was a different person. See, God will use your smile. Your compliment. Your prayer to breathe new life into people's spirit. To let them know that somebody cares.

To you, it may be no big deal, but to that other person. It's what keeps them moving forward. There's a lady that attends Lakewood. She's a widow.

She lives alone. Doesn't have any family here in town.

“She said, "Her favorite thing about coming to Lakewood”

is that's the one time during the week that I know I'm going to get a hug. The only time she feels the warmth of another person is at our services. Most of us, we get hugs all the time.

But you never know that person you reach out to

may be that's the only hug they're going to get this week. Maybe your smile, your compliment, your encouragement, is going to be the only encouragement that they receive. Be aware of who God puts in your path. Nobody is there by accident.

Oh, you said you're there fine. They're doing better than I am. They're happy. They got a smile. They're outgoing.

I've learned many people smile on the outside to hide the pain and loneliness on the inside. You are a container filled with God. There is healing in your voice. Healing in your smile.

Healing in your hugs. Take time to show a part of God everywhere you go. After all, God has no hands to comfort on this earth except our hands. He has no arms to love except our arms.

He has no voice to encourage except our voice. A lady told how her mother had died. The mother was in her 80s, lived a long, blessed life. But the daughter was very devastated. She and her mother were very close.

Now this daughter was just lonely. She missed her mother. One day, she decided to attend Lakewood.

She'd never been here before.

We have greeters at the door that welcome people. When she walked in, this elderly lady greeted her. She gave her a hug. And as she was pulling away, this greeter just gently padded her cheeks. And said very lovingly, "We're so glad to have you here today."

This lady began to weep. When she gained her composure, she said to the greeter, "When my mother hugged me, she always padded my cheeks." Just like you did. Now I know that was God saying, "I'm taking care of your mother,

and I'm going to take care of you as well." You never know what padding somebody's cheeks is going to mean. Just doing your thing. You never know what kind of impact that's going to have. Think about this.

There are 270 doors in this facility. What are the chances that that visitor would walk in the one door

“where the greeter would be there to pad her cheeks?”

You may come to Lakewood, but I can't promise you, you're all going to get your cheeks padded. But God will put you at the right place at the right time. God knows how to use what you have. Your unique gifts, your unique talents.

You may not call everybody's name in the line like Johnny. You may not pat people's cheeks after you hug them, but God can use your smile. You're compliment. You're kind words to help put people back on their feet.

I met a young lady in another state. She had attended Lakewood for several years. She went through a very rough time. Her marriage was falling apart.

Didn't think that she could go on. It went up her lowest moments.

“She was leaving a service here at Lakewood on a Sunday morning,”

walking down a crowded corridor with hundreds of other people, going out of the building. Victoria came, walking in the opposite direction, going up to the visitors' reception. Out of the hundreds and hundreds of people in that crowded corridor,

Victoria reached out and gently touched her arm. Looked her in the eyes and said, "You are so beautiful." Just a five second interaction and they both went their separate ways.

Victoria never thought any more about it.

Several years later, this young lady told me at a book signing, Victoria will never know what she did for me that day. When I felt the most unattractive, the most unlovedly, her words breathed new life into my spirit. In the months to come, she would play that phrase over and over.

You are so beautiful. Four words spoken at the right time.

“That's what helped her to keep moving forward.”

The scripture says in Hebrews, "To encourage one another daily." Not monthly, not once a week, not when you feel like it. No every day look for opportunities to make it a positive. Make it your business to make somebody else feel better about themselves.

One time I was in my front yard doing some yard work and it was very hot outside in the middle of the summer. I decided to go in and get some water. When I did, I heard the garbage truck come in down the street. I thought I'll get a few extra bottles and give it to the trash collectors.

When I handed them that water, you would have thought I had given them a thousand dollars each. And yes, it's hot here in Houston, but it wasn't so much the water. It was the fact that somebody took time to make them feel appreciated.

Somebody expressed their gratitude. I read where half of all employees don't feel appreciated by their company.

80% have never been told thank you for doing their job.

Imagine what kind of deposit we can make when you thank the young lady at the grocery store. When you thank the person that takes your order on the phone. When you thank the ushers that see you each week or driving out of the parking lot, you thank the police officers and not whisper something else under your breath.

Well, Joel, I'm paying these employees. I shouldn't have to thank them. Or I pay taxes. I don't have to thank these police officers. They work for the city.

“Do you know how much better of a job people will do when you thank them?”

Do you know how much more of your employees will produce when they know they're appreciated? A man went out to get his paper in the morning and when he opened the front door,

the little dog from across the street was bringing the paper to him.

He was pleasantly surprised. He thought this is great. He went in and got the dog a treat. And gave it to him. Little dog went off as happy as can be.

The next morning he went out to get his paper. The little dog was there with eight newspapers beside him. That dog had gone and got all the neighbors newspapers. He thought if I get one treat for one, I will get eight today. We laughed at human nature is the same way.

We'll do a lot more when we know we're appreciated. A few months after I gave those trash collectors that water, one day I had forgotten to take my garbage out. They come very early in the morning and I'd gotten busy and I thought, Oh no, because it's hot in this garbage is going to stink.

Not much I could do about it. Later that day after the garbage man got through running their route through the neighborhood, they came back down my street, stopped at my house, ran my doorbell, and asked if my trash was ready to be collected.

All I gave him was three bottles of water. Probably a dollar fifty investment, but that simple act of kindness deposited something much greater on the inside. It said to them, "I value you, I respect you, I appreciate you serving my family." Don't miss these opportunities to make deposits.

When the mailman drops off the mail, thank you so much. The lady that helps you at the mall, I appreciate you. The man you see at the gas station each week, thanks for being here, serving our community. Don't go the next 20 years.

See in the people God's put in your life, not making any kind of deposit. Do something to make them feel better about themselves.

Maybe not, but you're not doing it for yourself. You're doing it for them. You're doing it because they've been made in the image of Almighty God. And God placed them in your path. He's counting on you to make some deposits.

“Do you know some people they never really get any compliments?”

They don't really feel appreciated.

Some have never experienced even a simple act of kindness.

A friend on staff called this man we know in another state. He drives us when we travel to that state and a while back, there had been a big hurricane there. So my friend called just to check on him and his family. When I saw this driver the next time,

he said that was the nicest thing anybody had ever done for him. He went on and on. All it was was a five-minute phone call saying, "Man, we heard about the hurricane, are you okay? Just checking on you."

What am I saying? It doesn't have to be something big. One compliment. You are so beautiful. That's all it took for that young girl. One pad on the cheek and that lady felt loud. Three bottles of water.

“And now I have personal trash pick up for the rest of my life.”

I read a story about a 19-year-old young man named Carl. He's a special needs child. He has down syndrome. He works at the local grocery store as a bagger. And everyone loves Carl. It's got a great attitude.

One day Carl came up with an idea. He wanted to make people better. Every night he would find a thought for the day. Some kind of encouraging word. He would type it on his computer six or seven times.

Then print it and have it copy. His dad would help him to cut these into individual pieces. So he would have about 300 of these inspirational sayings. He called it his word of the day. When he would bag the groceries, he would put that thought for the day on the top of the bag.

And he'd tell the customers, "I put a good word in your bag. I hope it helps you to enjoy the day."

“A week later, the line where Carl was bagging was five times longer than any other line.”

He went to the back of the grocery store back by the frozen food section. The manager got on the loudspeaker. There are other registers open. No waiting. Nobody would move.

They said, "No, we want to get Carl's word for the day." What was Carl doing? Making a deposit. Use in what he had. He could have been at home feeling sorry for himself.

Thinking, "Somebody needs to cheer me up. I've got the disadvantage. No, if you'll get your mind off of what you don't have. And use what you do have to make somebody else feel better.

To brighten their day, I can promise you, "God will always brighten your own day."

And the reason some people are not happy. The reason they're not fulfilled is they're living in Rome. They're not doing anything good for anyone else. But when you get your mind off of your problems, off of your needs, and you focus on improving somebody else's life.

The seeds that you sow will always come back to you. God will improve your own life. I heard about this junior high teacher. One day her students were being very rowdy. She could tell that they didn't want to learn.

It was late in the day. She didn't really feel like pressing through it. So she told her class to put their books up and to get out one clean sheet of paper. Their assignment was to write down every student's name in the class.

And list at least one good thing you like about that student. The class went to work, looking around, thinking about what they liked about each other. Over the weekend, the teacher took the time to list the student's name and then she copied all the encouraging comments that were said about them. On Monday, she handed that individual sheet of paper to each of the students.

The room was just buzzing with excitement. When they began to read the comments, you could see their faces brightening up. You would hear things like, "Wow, I didn't know they liked me that much. I didn't know they thought I was talented. I didn't know they thought I was so beautiful on and on."

Years later, one of the students was killed while serving in Vietnam. The teacher, along with many of the students, attended the funeral. After the service, the father of the soldier said to the teacher, "I'd like to show you what my son was carrying when he was killed."

He had this folded up piece of paper that the son always kept in his wallet.

As he unfolded it, the teacher soon realized it was that note she had copied with all the encouraging comments.

One man told how he kept his note in his desk drawer at the office.

“A lady said she kept hers in her wedding album.”

Another former student, right then and there, pulled out his wallet unfolded his, like it was his most prized possession. The teacher was overwhelmed.

She never dreamed what kind of lasting impact that simple assignment would have that day.

My encouragement to you is be a wallet filler. Be free with your compliments, take time to tell people how much you love them, how much they mean to you. It takes so little effort yet it makes such a huge deposit. For you to walk over to that coworker and say, "Hey, I've ever told you how much I enjoy working with you. You are so talented."

Or to your spouse, you make my life great. I'm so glad that God brought you across my path. To a son or a daughter, I'm so proud of you. You're going to do amazing things in life. Those are not just words.

They are treasures that they will carry for a lifetime. Victoria used to work at her mother's jewelry store. I lost you. From the time she was a little girl, her mother taught her that there is something beautiful about every person. Their eyes, their smile, their hair, their personality, their clothes, and to look for it.

This got Victoria in the habit of always looking for the good, seeing what she likes about a person.

So often we do just the opposite. We look at people through a critical lens.

“If we see something that we don't like, we don't understand, we think, why does she wear her hair like that?”

It doesn't look good. He needs to get in better shape. He doesn't have a good personality. She doesn't have very good taste. It's easy to see the negative. But every person has something great about them. Why don't you develop the habit of looking for that one good thing?

A friend of mine, Nick, and his beautiful wife's summer. They have a four or five-year-old little daughter named Haven. Nick heard Victoria talking about this principle. He's been teaching Haven how to look for that one beautiful thing. Now little Haven sees it as a challenge.

Everywhere she goes, she studies people, she'll look them up and down. Then she'll tell them, "I like your earrings." "I like the buttons on your shirt."

“She tells somebody the other day, "I like your fingernails."”

She's developing this habit at a very early age of seeing the good. Telling people what she likes, not what she dislikes. What's Nick teaching his daughter, how to make deposits, to leave people better off than they were before.

When I was growing up, my mother had a tradition that I never really liked.

When it was somebody's birthday in the family, before we could cut the cake, we all had to say one good thing about that person. I was very shy, not used to expressing my feelings. My attitude was, my brothers and sisters, my family. They know how much I love them, I don't need to tell them,

but my mother would go around the room as a little boy. Joel, tell me one good thing you like about your brother Paul. Sometimes it takes me 30 minutes. Other times I just have to lie, but we couldn't cut the cake until we all said something good.

I realize now, I'm not even looking at Paul, but I realize now, my mother was teaching us to make deposits, to be free with our compliments. We had to think about what we liked and not what we disliked. It taught us not to take people for granted, not to just think all they're beautiful. They're talented, they're fun, but to express it, to let them know what we were thinking.

After all, our thoughts don't bless anybody. Love is not love until you give it away. Why don't you get in the habit of finding that one good thing about the people God put in your life and then take it a step further, tell them, write them a note, send them a text and email. Hey, just think about you and how much I appreciate your friendship, your loyalty, your sense of humor,

your personality, whatever it is, that's being a wallet filler. Those are treasures that they will carry for a lifetime. People need encouragement today more than ever. The reason why is because there's a bigger outlet for negative than there's ever been before. The internet is both a blessing and it can be a curse.

It lets people say hurtful things and hide behind no name.

They're too embarrassed. The negative has been turned up.

“Now you and I need to turn up the positive.”

Don't be passive. Tell your family, your friends, in-person, on Facebook, on Twitter, how much you love them, how great you think they are. When you see a negative comment about them, go to work. You're beautiful. You're talented.

I like you because you're loyal, because you're fun to be around. Do your friends and family a favor, drown out all the haters.

Drown out the negative, critical sarcastic, jealous people.

They want to make withdrawals and push people down. You keep making deposits, pushing people up. And here's the key. Don't waste your time arguing with people that are hateful. They're not going to change their mind.

They don't want to understand you. They're not happy with their own life. They're jealous. So they're going to keep trying to push people down. The more hate they pour out, the more love you pour out.

Stick up for your family. Stick up for your friends. God's counting on us to make these deposits. My challenge to you. Encourage somebody every single day.

Look for opportunities to make them feel better about themselves. Make sure when you leave the places better off than it was before. And if you'll learn to be a wallet filler, making deposits everywhere you go,

then those seeds that you sow will always come back to you.

As you help others rise higher, God's going to help you rise higher. Now believe in the clear, you will become everything. God's created you to be. You're going to live the abundant life. He has in store.

“In Jesus' name, if you receive it, can you say amen today?”

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'll repent of my sins.

Come into my heart. I'll make you my Lord and Savior. Friends, if you prayed that simple prayer, we believe you've got born again. Get in a good Bible-based church.

Keep God first place.

He's going to take you places you've never dreamed of.

We all go through disappointments and things that are not fair. But God sees every hurt, every injustice. And He's promised to pay you back for the unfair things. Now, love to send you my new resource, double for your trouble. It's filled with inspiration, dampness, stay in faith,

and not get bitter and think, "Why me?" No, that setback may have been painful,

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If you've never been to Lakewood,

we have a great opportunity to come. We call it Homecoming Weekend. We'd love to meet you and your family.

“You can see the building at 10 one of the services.”

It's a great time to be a part of the Lakewood family. Looking forward to seeing you at Homecoming Weekend.