“For I long to visit you so I can bring you some spiritual gift that will help you grow strong in the Lord. When we get together, I want to encourage you in your faith, but I also want to be encouraged by yours.”
Romans 1:11-12 NLT
http://bible.com/116/rom.1.11-12.nlt
I long to be with my brothers and sisters in Christ. I love working with them, hearing about their challenges, and encouraging them. I value the art of encouragement more than any other skill I possess. I want to encourage my students to persevere. I want to encourage my family, friends, and ministry partners. They deserve it. As I spend time encouraging others, I am greatly encouraged. It's amazing what "positive talk" can do to everyone involved. Discouraging talk can also destroy everyone within ear shot. That's why I recommend, rather strongly, know who are your encouragers and who are open to encouragement. Avoid the negativity in others. It's harder to do that in families and work situations but for your own wellbeing you need to try. Over the past half year, I've been doing everything I can to avoid the "negative nellies" and spend time with the encouragers. I have also, for the past year, tried to post only positive posts on social media. Now, trust me, I know people can read "negativity" into anything so I'm sure my posts have not always been received as intended. People that disagree with me politically might not think of my posts as positive. They might not appreciate my thoughts, but they are only intended to lift up those they are posted for. We need more encouragers in this world.
Encouragement is a powerful force in the lives of people. We need to spend more time building people up and not tearing them down. Life is not a sports talk show. Life is not a news show filled with biases of politics and ideology. People are not encouraged though constant criticism and detailed analysis. People need to know you believe in them. You support them in tough times, and that you will be there for them. They just need someone to support them with a kind word. How tough can that be.
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