The Power of Encouragement

I have recently gone back to school, and one of our assignments got me thinking about how often we take time to encourage those in our lives. Just stop and think about when you needed a word of encouragement and got it. It is like a jolt of energy that goes through your body and helps you take that next step or just keep going. In the same way, think about a time when you were struggling, and you just needed someone to pick you up with some kind words. Who do you know that could use an encouraging word today? Take a moment and send them a quick text or call them and encourage them.

I understand that what I am asking you can be challenging because it takes time, and it may not be a natural thing for you to do. In all honesty, this is something I can do better as well. I have to intentionally and at times push myself to reach out to my friends, family, and co-workers with a call or text just to encourage them. I used to send a weekly text to my Life Group Leaders every Friday, and it took some time, but I wanted to let them know how much I appreciated them and that I was praying for them. I would get resonances from about fifty percent out of the many texts, which I thought was awesome. But I often wondered what the others thought of my weekly messages.

Last year, I stopped because we were sending lots of information, and I did not want to add one more thing they had to read from us. But within a week, as I ran into leaders, they said they missed my note of encouragement. The funny part is that the people who said they missed it were part of the group who never responded. So my challenge to you is to send that message or make that call. You may never know how you are impacting someone when you do. We live in a world where people are battling some tough stuff and need to be reminded that they are not in the fight alone. Please share a story with us if you have one about receiving encouragement in your life right when you need it most -OR- if you need to be encouraged, let us know that as well. Thanks for reading our post! Have a great day!