Live to Encourage

"Okay, when did 'Encouragement' decide to give up, jump off a cliff & drawn itself in some unforgiving body of water?? When did it become acceptable in our society to cut people down and call it 'tough love'?"

I wrote this down in the 'Note' section of  my phone about a month ago and lately I have been hearing a lot of different opinions when it comes to encouragement vs. criticism so I guess now is the perfect time to talk about this.

At our last Youth prayer meeting we studied the first six chapters of Hebrews. In Hebrews 3:13 Paul says, "But exhort (encourage) one another daily, while it is called To day; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin." When our brother's and sister's in the Lord encourage us we know we are not going through this alone. People we love and respect are going through the same things we are. We all face trials and sometimes feel that we can't go on or we can't win this battle; but Praise God we serve a God who fights them all for us. 

Now, Criticism or instruction, as some call it, can be taken in the same way if presented in a loving Christ-like manner. If you're talking down to some one 1. they are not going to listen; it will go in one ear and out the other & 2. if what you were trying to accomplish is to encourage another person try a different approach; each person takes things differently. Some criticism is good, such as, instructive criticism which my dad is the king of so I have learned to take it well. 

When I was a junior in High School I had to give an oral presentation on a huge research paper about Cesarean Sections (C-sections). My grade was a 97% I had done the best in my entire junior class and I even had teachers from my other classes come up to me during the week congratulating me on how well I did. When I got home I was overwhelmingly excited, I couldn't wait to tell anyone who would listen about my good grade. When I told my dad the first thing he said was, "Why didn't you get a hundred?" This might sound like 'talk about criticism!' But I am a lot like my dad so to me this was constructive criticism. I stepped back, thought about what I could do better the next time I had to give an oral report. Each time I got better & each time I volunteered to go first knowing I was ready because I learned something beneficial from each presentation I gave. 

I love to see the look on person's face when I give them a compliment or a word of encouragement & it seemed to be the last thing they were expecting out of their day (which, is sad) & their face just lights up. That in itself is one of the greatest rewards we can receive on this earth; to make someone understand their worth and to show them that they are appreciated.