Encouraging People

If someone asked you to think of the most encouraging person in your life, who would it be? Do you have encouraging people in your life? I remember liking encouragement as a kid, but as an adult — especially since I became a mama — I appreciate it in a different way. There is something about someone encouraging me that makes me want to be better about encouraging others. There are so many things that can be discouraging in life, so when someone takes the time to be encouraging — it’s noticeable.

I have found it to be extremely easy to focus on the things that I don’t get right, don’t do well, and feel like I’ve failed at. There are times when I respond more harshly than I want to, think more negatively than I should, and focus only on the mistakes I’ve made during the day. It is easy to become critical of myself and get caught in a downward spiral mentally when I do something wrong. This is where encouragement plays a huge role! Those people in your life that take the time to recognize and point out something that you are doing well can be a game changer — at least it is for me.

I think that encouragement is a gift — a free one at that — that can have a profound impact on someone’s life. It doesn’t cost us anything to speak encouraging words to someone, but it can be invaluable to the recipient. There was an instance a few weeks ago when I was feeling very discouraged about a specific thing. I voiced my feelings of discouragement to Marc and within minutes, a friend sent me a text that was encouraging me in that specific area! I immediately thanked God for using my friend to speak into that specific area because it was exactly what I needed in that moment. I’ve had that happen on more than one occasion and realized that I want to be better about encouraging others too.

There are two particular passages that come to mind in regards to encouragement. The first one is Ephesians 4:29 which says, “Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.” The world is so full of negative, discouraging comments that when we change how we speak to each other, it’s noticeable. When we stop allowing corrupting talk to come from our mouths, and focus instead on building each other up — it’s noticeable. As believers, we are called to put away our old lives and live our lives for the sake of the Gospel. This would include our speech. Proverbs 18:21 says, “Death and life are in the power of the tongue…” This is a reminder that words are powerful. We have the ability to use our words positively or negatively every time we speak. Just because someone is doing something differently than you, doesn’t mean you need to discourage them. You can encourage someone in something that they’re doing without doing it yourself.

I will say, I am not referring to sin. We should never encourage sinful behavior. I’m talking about encouraging one another in the things that are not sinful — even if it may be something that doesn’t interest us personally. For example, if someone wants to start a business, you can encourage them to pursue that, to the glory of God, even if the idea of starting a business sounds awful to you. If someone wants to try public speaking, you can encourage them to pursue that, to the glory of God, even if the thought of public speaking makes you sick to your stomach. If someone chooses to adjust what their diet, routines, life goals, etc. look like — you can encourage them to pursue those things, to the glory of God, without adopting those practices as your own. We don’t have to do things the same way or have the same desires because God has gifted each of us with unique talents, passions, and abilities to be used to serve others for the glory of God.

The other passage that came to mind when I was thinking about this, was Hebrews 10:24-25 which says, “And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.” Jesus’ return to earth gets closer with each passing day. We don’t get to know exactly when it will be, but ever since He ascended the day of His return has been drawing near. The writer of Hebrews reminds us that it’s important to stir one another up to love and good works, to encourage each other, to continue meeting together — all the more as we see Jesus’s return getting closer. This world is hard to live in because there is so much sin and temptation. God designed us to live in His perfect creation, but in Genesis 3, we chose to disobey, take less than God’s best, and spend our days knowing good and evil — we chose to live with sin. That’s why we need each other. We, as believers, need to keep meeting together in order to encourage each other to stay the course! To keep fighting the good fight of faith like it says in 1 Timothy 6:12 and press on toward the goal like it says in Philippians 3:14.

So, the next time you have the opportunity to offer encouragement to someone — even your own children — do it! If you see a strength in someone — encourage them in it, that they might develop it and use it to serve others for the glory of God. Continue gathering with believers in order to encourage one another and stir each other up to love and good works. A great example of this in my personal life is my MOMS group at church — seasoned moms encouraging newer moms, praying for us, and teaching us — and it’s one of my favorite things! Gather together and encourage each other to serve others — especially your own family — to the glory of God!

How does it make you feel when someone offers encouragement to you? How do you offer encouragement to others?

Song(s) of the Week: This week I chose “Speak Life” by TobyMac. Enjoy!