Encourage

As the Saturday morning sunlight spilled through our foyer, the yellow lilies adorning the entry table (which was my grandmother’s old sewing machine) glowed with a vibrancy so bright.  It immediately lifted my spirits.

These flowers were delivered the night before along with an unexpected, greatly appreciated hot meal from a friend and neighbor who knew my heart had been heavy and spirit bruised from the past few weeks.  Life is not always kind, is it?  Grief, heartache, and pain always seeks us out.  It can come from family, friends, work, or even our own selves.  I am sometimes my own worst enemy.  I had had my share of pain and disappointments recently and was wallowing in my own self pity.  My friend noticed and asked God how she might encourage me.

Encourage.

“Encouragement is infusing hope or courage into another’s life.” -Kelly D. King
 

That’s what I want to do.  I want to encourage. I want infuse hope and courage to someone other than myself.

This world is already hard enough.  I don’t want to make it any harder on someone as I try to prove a point, work an agenda, boost my own pride.  I want to be like my friend.  I want to seek to encourage someone the best that I can.  My friend’s selfless act of kindness moved me in ways that gave me hope.  I knew God had heard and answered prayers I’d been saying over the past couple of weeks.  He sent her at the exact right moment.  Her gesture gave me strength to keep pushing when I felt like I was burnt out.  I could lift my head back up as I heard God whisper, “Look up, child.”

You see, not one of us is perfect.  No, not one.  Yet we walk around constantly comparing ourselves against others in hopes to boost our own confidence.  And this is where we have gotten it all wrong.  If you want to make a difference, encourage someone.

As I told my friend how much she had blessed me, she reiterated to me that she was the one who was blessed.

By encouraging others you will help yourself.  Your focus will not be solely on you and your circumstances, but rather choosing to see someone other than you.  It is an act of humility and service that will leave you blessed.

Setting our minds on encouraging others focuses our thoughts on seeing the best in people.  My friend could have looked at me and assumed I was ridiculous or needed to get over my disappointments.  She could have wanted to shame and guilt me as others had done in the past few weeks.  Instead, she chose to see the best.  She chose to see a woman who was struggling and thought how she might be an instrument to improve and encourage my life.  She looked for the best and prayed that it might be brought out in me.

Encouragement is Biblical.  It is foundational.  You can never pour into someone’s life unless there is encouragement first.  Otherwise your words and actions will fall on deaf ears or cause division.  Encouragement unites.  Don’t you think we could all use some unity?

There are so many wonderful examples of encouragement all throughout scripture, but perhaps the one that is most relevant to unity (especially of the church) comes out of 1 Thessalonians 5.  The Apostle Paul is writing here to the church at Thessalonica.  Paul had been on a missionary journey there, but had to leave abruptly and the church was struggling under persecution with little support.  To help, Paul sent Timothy to encourage believers there, to prod them forward to continue and be strong in the midst of persecution.  What a lesson for us!

Encourage.  That’s what I want to do.  I want to encourage. I want infuse hope and courage to someone other than myself.  What about you?  Will you join me in being an encourager?  How might you and I be used as a catalyst to encourage someone today or in the days, weeks, and months to come?

Think on this, pray on this, and let’s act on this.