Dear Friends,
If encouragement is oxygen
to the soul, and we can’t live very long without it, and if the Bible
frequently exhorts us to encourage one another, (1 Thess. 5:11 and Hebrews 10:
25), why is it that so few people take the time to offer it?
Encouragement is so easy
to give. It takes little effort and only a few seconds to give, and yet a few
timely words can make a person's day.
The other day, I was
having lunch with a friend, and our waitress was especially helpful and
attentive.
As she stopped by for the
3rd time to ask us how we were doing, I thanked her for her
continued attention, and I told her how impressed I was with her service.
I said, “In my book, you
are the waitress of the year,” and with those words, her face lit up, and she
replied, “Thank you, thank you, you will never know how much those words meant
to me.”
Just a few short words,
but those words helped make a server’s day.
It was Mother Teresa who
said, “Kind words are short and easy to speak, but their echoes are endless.”
I still hear those
encouragement echoes from my mother, from coaches I’ve had, friends I’ve made,
and nurses who recently tended to me while I was in the hospital.
“Great job,” “you can do
it,” “I believe in you,” are words everyone longs to hear.
New Testament writer
William Barclay states, “One of the highest of human duties is the duty of
encouragement. It is easy to laugh at men’s ideals; it is easy to pour cold
water on their enthusiasm; It is easy to discourage others. The world is full
of discouragers. We have a Christian duty to encourage another. Many a time a
word of praise or thanks or appreciation or cheer has kept a man on his feet.
Blessed is the man who speaks such a word.” William Barkley, The Letter to the
Hebrews.
Today I want to challenge
you to be intentional. Be on the lookout for opportunities to encourage
someone.
Give positive feedback,
let someone know how they helped you, smile, offer a compliment, send a card or
write a letter, listen with not only your ears but your heart, express your
care, follow up, hug someone, and notice when people encourage you and thank
them.
Join the compliment club
and you will not only bless others, but you, yourself will be blessed for as we
all know. “It is more blessed to give than to receive.”
Yours in faith and
friendship,
Tom
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