Tag: encouragement

Who Can You Encourage Today?

On By Jason SmithIn Devotional, Theology for LifeLeave a comment

“Therefore encourage one another and build another up, just as you are doing.” (1 Thessalonians 5:11)

How good are you at encouraging others? As Christians, we recognize the need for encouragement. We live in a fallen world filled with false ideas, and we need a community of brothers and sisters in the Lord who will remind us of what is true and uplifting.

I love that God commands that we encourage each other. It’s not an optional nicety for those who want to do something extra. Every Christian is commanded to be an encourager. I need to see myself as someone called to this. Even on days where I need encouragement, I need to be thinking of how I can encourage others. 

God smiles on His children looking for ways to build each other up in a world where so many are anxiously trying to tear others down.

Let’s meditate together on why encouragement is so vital for God’s people.

Why Encouragement Is a Big Deal

Chuck Swindoll is a 91-year-old pastor who has been a pastor to many other pastors, including myself, through his books. He explains that encouragement is “putting courage into someone else.” When you encourage others, you inspire confidence, assurance, and hope for the future because they are more prepared for what life will throw out them.

Swindoll writes:

“Encouragement is awesome. Think about it. It has the capacity to lift a man’s or a woman’s shoulders. To breathe fresh air into the fading embers of a smoldering dream. To actually change the course of another human being’s day, week, or life.”

Have you stopped to consider how powerful your words of encouragement might be to someone else today? You might be used by God to say the exact words someone needed to hear that might change the trajectory of their day, and possibly, their life. 

When I first arrived at Grace Point Community Church, I sat down for coffee with the previous pastor, Steve McCracken. Steve was mentored by Swindoll. Rather than making me feel like I was being examined, he spoke words of life, joy, and excitement about the future. Throughout that first conversation, I felt built up and encouraged by this godly man, who I now consider a friend and mentor. And by the way, Steve has continued to be a man who lives out Ephesians 4:29. His words communicate the grace of Jesus Christ.

“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.” (Ephesians 4:29)

Our World Is Desperate for Encouragement

Here’s the reality: Everyone needs encouragement. I have yet to meet someone who is tapped out with too much encouragement or is too busy to hear uplifting words of encouragement. 

Scripture says that when we speak words of encouragement, we help to lift someone’s heart. 

“Anxiety in a man’s heart weighs him down, but a good word makes him glad.” (Proverbs 12:25)

Quite honestly, our world is full of discouragers. We see this online, in the workplace, and sometimes even within families and churches. Too often, I’ve heard of someone pouring cold water on the embers of enthusiasm or someone feeling let down by a negative word when they were desperate for a word of appreciation for their hard work. 

So much power rests in the tongue (James 3). It can build up, and it can tear down. It can heal, and it can cut like a sword (Proverbs 12:18).

Frankly, if you have an accurate theology from Scripture, you should expect people to be discouraged as a default setting. They are dealing with loneliness, pain, anxious thoughts, fear of death, fear of rejection, shame, and guilt. Without intentional encouragement a person’s heart can grow hard with sin’s deceitfulness. 

Consider this little devotional to be an urgent encouragement for you: You can be an encourager! You can help change the trajectory of someone’s story. You can be someone who lifts others up rather than pushes them down. We all need encouragement. 

And for Christians, this is commanded because we know the greatest Source of encouragement. Jesus Christ sought us when we were lost in our sin and shame, and He lifted us out of the miry pit and set us on the solid rock of salvation. He showed us grace and forgiveness and gave us fresh purpose in life. Without Jesus, we too would have few encouraging words to say about life and the state of the world. But in the power of the gospel, we have every reason to encourage others and to build up weary souls.

“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.” (Hebrews 10:24-25)

Who can you encourage today?

Prayer: Lord, make me an encourager today, by the power of Your Holy Spirit!

Thoughts or questions?  I’d love to hear from you!

Dads, Build Them Up

On By Jason SmithIn DevotionalLeave a comment

By Jason Smith

While growing up, you likely heard someone say, “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me.” But, of course, that’s not true. In many ways, words can bring harm at a level that sticks and stones never could. Because words can pierce through to the heart.

I can recall from an early age how much words affected me. There was a time one of my good friends made a joke at my expense, and I can still remember how much that stung to hear someone I looked up to making fun of me. I also remember times that I spoke something hurtful, and I can still see the look of anguish that I caused and still feel the tinge of guilt.

In the documentary Won’t You Be My Neighbor, it is revealed that the beloved Fred Rogers, of the classic children’s show Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood, was once bullied as a child and called “Fat Freddy.” The whole ordeal really hurt the young boy, and it taught him early in life how much power our words can have on others.

Words carry far more weight than we give them credit. They have the ability to cut people so deeply that healing can take a long time. Perhaps you grew up in a household where you heard countless threats, name-calling, insults, and a regular supply of bitter sarcasm directed at you. Such an experience can be debilitating. You can grow up with the sense that you have little to no value in the eyes of others. It can make you wish you were someone else. The whole trajectory of your life can be devastated – all because of words.

However, there is a flip side to all this. Not only do our words carry incredible power to tear down, they also have the power to build up.

The wise author of Proverbs wrote, “The tongue has the power of life and death” (Proverbs 18:21). When your child is hurting, feeling crushed by defeat, or upset about something, your words of encouragement can be like a refreshing spring rain that brings life and joy. Even for an adult, a timely compliment can change the whole mood of the day. And yes, it’s also true that words can kill – in fact, in some tragic cases, they have. People can be driven to despair and angst by the cruel and biting words of another.

Because of their unique role, fathers should especially take all this to heart. Sociologists, psychologists, and historians have written reams about the undeniable impact a father can have on his child’s life – for good or ill. I believe that one of the primary roles God has given to fathers is that they would be there to build up their children with their words. Spending time with your children, hearing them articulate their own thoughts, and telling them why you think they’re so great is such a simple but immensely beneficial act of fatherhood.

The Apostle Paul wrote, “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” (Ephesians 4:29, ESV).

How different our world would be if fathers took this counsel to heart. What if every single dad in the world resolved each morning to only say that which is good, encouraging, and helpful for building up their children? What kind of difference would that make? How many family rifts, embittered hearts, and feelings of despair could be avoided through this simple, daily practice?

This in no way eliminates the need for discipline. Instead, it very purposefully puts all loving discipline of your child in the right framework.

When your little guy is misbehaving, running amok, and causing trails of disaster wherever he goes, it can be hard to restrain your tongue. When your daughter throws a fit in the mall because she didn’t get the candy she was pleading for, it can be a challenge to not thrown your own private fit later. When your son uses your power tools for the eleventh time and leaves them out in the rain, it may seem impossible not to scream about how irresponsible he is. (Some of you are cringing even as I describe these scenarios!)

But how we speak in those moments can mean all the difference in the world for that child. And, trust me, this is coming from a dad who hasn’t always chosen to speak in a way that gives “grace to those who hear.” But giving grace is what we should strive for and, with God’s help, it’s something achievable.

When they don’t get the “A” they studied so hard for or don’t make the team they had dreams of playing on, they may just need Dad to silently sit with them or hug them. But when the time is right, lift their spirits with a word of encouragement. Remind them how much you love them, in the successes and the failures. Give them the boost they need. Leave no room for doubt that you are proud of them nonetheless!

Doesn’t every father need this reminder? Dads, build them up.