Watch Your Spirit

“The spirit of a man will sustain him in sickness, But who can bear a broken

spirit?” (Proverbs 18:14, NKJV)

It is reported that when Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was stabbed in New Your City,

as he was rushed to the hospital, placed on a stretcher and rolled down the corridor,

before entering the operating room, the noted theologian and Howard University

professor, Dr. Howard Thurman, met him there and spoke these words to him,

“Martin, watch your spirit.” It is said that Dr. Thurman, who was Dr. King’s long

time friend and mentor, said these words three times, “Martin, watch your spirit.”

You see, what Dr. Thurman was saying to Dr. King then and to us now, is that there

is something worse than broken bones, stab wounds and a battered body. It is a

broken spirit.

I say to you today as Dr. Thurman said to Dr. King, “Watch your spirit.” As this

proverb lets us know, even in sickness, if a person has a good, positive, encouraged

spirit, that individual can be at peace and has a greater chance of recovery. Yet, a

person with a broken spirit is more apt to wither away and die, because that

individual has given up on hope and life.

So I say to you today, “Watch your spirit.” When life get’s tough, “Watch your

spirit.” When things seem to be going crazy around you, “Watch your spirit.”

When it seems all hope is lost, don’t give up, “Watch your spirit.” The spirit of an

individual will sustain him or her, even in sickness, but who can bear a broken

spirit. WATCH YOUR SPIRIT.