Dear Friends,
There are high spots in all of our lives, and most of them have
come as a result of some form of encouragement that we have received
from someone else. Encouragement has the amazing power to transform lives
When Sir Walter Scott the famous poet and playwright of
the 18th century was a boy, he was not considered very bright. As a
result, most folks ignored him. When he was twelve, he went to a social
gathering where a number of literary figures were present. Robert Burns,
the famous Scottish poet, was admiring a painting under which was written a
couplet of poetry. He asked about the author, but nobody knew who had written
the lines. That was when Scott very shyly quoted the rest of the poem and gave
the author’s name. Burns placed his hand on the young boy’s head and said,
"Son, you will be a great man in Scotland someday.” Years later Scott
remembered the encounter and commented on the impact that meeting had upon his
life (Source unknown).
It has been said that “Nothing improves a man’s hearing like a
little praise." The human heart longs to hear words of encouragement. Too
often we miss the opportunity to impact another’s life because we fail to offer
some encouraging words. Ben Franklin said "just as we must account for
every idle word, so too we must account for every idle silence.
As Mother Teresa once said, “Kind words are short and each to
speak, but their echoes are endless.”
What are the echoes you hear in your life? I hope many of them are
echoes of encouragement that you received from a coach, teacher, parent or
friend
How grateful I am for the kind and encouraging words that have
been spoken into my life. I will never forget the words of Dr. Dick
Armstrong who was a member of the faculty at Princeton Seminary, and who was
serving as an interim pastor of an inter-racial church in Philadelphia. I had
recently graduated from seminary and was coaching and teaching at a
military prep school in Syracuse, N.Y. while also serving as a part
time pastor in a small church in the area. On several
occasions, Dick had encouraged me to consider pastoring the
inter-racial church where he was serving as interim, and each time I told him I
wasn’t interested. I was intimidated by the thought of serving in an urban
ministry, having grown up in a small town in rural northern New York, and
having had little interaction with people of color, I felt inadequate to serve
in an urban inter racial ministry. Dick, however, was persistent, and kept
calling and encouraging me to consider the position. I well remember his
closing words of one of those phone conversations. Dick said, “Tom, I think you
are the perfect man for this position.”
Dick's faith and confidence in this young, inexperienced pastor,
were enough to overcame all my feelings of inadequacy, and so I finally
applied for the position and much to my surprise I was selected. To this day I
can tell you that those seven years in Philadelphia were among the most
exciting and meaningful years of any ministry I have had. It all
happened because someone believed in me and took the time to speak words
of encouragement into my life.
I wonder how many people stop too soon because no one in their
life came along to say "go," "you can do it, "I
believe in you," or like my friend Dick spoke, "you are the
perfect person for this position."
One of my favorite verses, and one I have committed to memory is
Ephesians 4:29: “Don’t let any unwholesome words come out of your mouth, but
only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it
may benefit those who listen."
Is there someone you know who could use a little word of
encouragement today? If so, why not give them a call, or drop them a note, or
better yet stop by and visit them and offer them some encouragement. Join the
“Compliment Club” and who knows the change your words might make in
someone’s life.
Yours in faith and friendship,
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