Encouraging Words
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
When my kids were very young and my husband had been travelling a lot for business, Christmas arrived with little excitement for me. We had bought a “fixer upper” house that was not yet “fixed up”. I was still carrying baby weight and working part-time juggling home, work, and children. I didn’t think there was anything particularly “pretty” about me or my circumstances.
On Christmas morning when I opened a gift from my husband he had bought me the most beautiful, feminine, jewelry box. I was floored by it. It encouraged me to think that he still thought of me as worthy of something pretty and feminine! It is probably my all-time favorite gift – because the gift delivered a message that I’m not even sure he knew he was conveying!
Encouragement is multifaceted. Words can be encouraging, seeing someone after a long absence can be encouraging. A smile, a gift, a gesture that honors us in some way. When a man opens a door or a child speaks with respect it makes me realize the whole world is not falling apart! It can be encouraging to read about something good that happens to someone else! Notes, prayers, and phone calls can all encourage another person.
The Bible is, in and of itself, an encouragement to those of us who are followers of Jesus Christ. It also encourages us to encourage one another, in fact, it commands that we encourage one another! One of the things it makes clear to me is that God knows the world He left us in and He knows our individual personalities – He knew we would get discouraged and that we would need some help in turning our thinking back to Him to be encouraged. Often when the Apostle Paul talks about encouraging another he is talking about encouraging them in their faith, or how others had encouraged him in his faith.
In Romans 1:11-12 Paul said, “For I long to see you, that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to strengthen you– that is, that we may be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith, both yours and mine.”
The letter to the Romans goes on to teach some sound doctrine – later in this same chapter he lets them know about the sin all around them and tells them that he longs to come and preach the gospel in Rome. It isn’t like he only gives them light-hearted, mindless fluff to encourage them. Encouragement is based in truth! It is not encouraging to be misled so we feel good and then find out that it was all flattery and meant only to tickle our ears.
To me it is always discouraging to realize what a fool I was to believe the person who flatters me!
As Christian women, do we encourage our husbands to build them up? Do we encourage our children to grow in faith by the way we live ours? Do we go to church on Sunday to “get something” or to give encouragement to others? Do the people we work with think of us as someone who builds up or tears down at the office?
I sometimes wonder how much of an encouragement I am to others or we (Christians) are to one another. What message do we convey in the words we use and the life we live? Is it the one we want to convey?