Speak Life

Eph.4:²⁹ “…Let everything you say be good and helpful, so that your words will be an encouragement to those who hear them.”

We are still on the subject of learning to bask in encouragement. Hang on to that encouragement you get. Yesterday, I shared with you how I kept an encouraging note and it became a repeated source of encouragement for me.That is just one of the many notes I have received from good people and kept. If I had trashed that note, I would not have it to encourage myself when I needed it. But I received it and then I held onto it. There are many people that I have given cards and they have put them in dustbins. Do you think I did not know? I send you cards that I write with my own hands, but you throw them away. You will repent today and keep my cards, right? Hanging on to encouragement is really big!

Note that I have not said you should be fishing for compliments. Someone compliments your hair or your tie and you say, ‘Can you please send it as an email?’ Or you say, ‘Please send me a text message and copy my spouse so that they will know that I get compliments.’ Do not do that, please. Yet, the reality is that as human beings, it is our natural propensity to gravitate towards encouragement. We try to fish for compliments, but we sometimes make a fool of ourselves. Why not just give it and sow it, and see how God will bring your harvest.

Parents, you must be deliberate about the words you speak to your children. Never ever underestimate the power of encouraging your child. I can remember vividly when I was learning to write as a child. I would think of something, like a nursery rhyme, and write it out on paper. Then show it to my mother, and she would praise me. I did this repeatedly until something unexpected happened, I ran out of things to write. But I loved the encouragement I was getting. So, I took a book and began to copy words from it. Yet my mother was very gracious.

As I was writing, I came across a letter that I had never seen before. But I decided to copy it all the same. It was the letter ‘g’; the typed version was different from anything I was used to. I took it to my mother as my original work and guess what? The smile on her face did not change. She encouraged and praised me. Do you know that when I grew older, I still played back that scene? As a parent, you may not even remember the experiences your child has with you, but they never forget. So be deliberate about being their biggest encourager.

Prayer:  Father, I pray that according to Your Word, everything I say would be good and helpful, and my words will be an encouragement to those who hear them, in Jesus Name. Amen!