I have addressed how it feels to hear gratitude for things that we have done earlier in the month in my blog, Appreciation. But, what about those times when you have not done anything that is particularly special. How do we help ourselves or each other get up on those days when we are feeling down? The answer is encouragement. See, appreciation is generally about something that we have already done in the past, but encouragement is about who we are right now, and what we are capable of in the future.
I believe that God gave us each other, so that we could lift each other up, but we have become accustomed to tearing each other down to make ourselves feel better and to advance our own agendas. We have to stop that. The first step in encouragement is to see people as God sees them. He sees us as works in progress, made in His image with limitless potential. We are so quick to point out faults and flaws; not only in other people, but also in ourselves. Learn to see the positive. This does not mean to ignore those things that can be improved, but to accept the person before you right now (even if that person is you) and to surrender those places that need to be molded to God. Next, we have to trust and know that God has an individual plan for each one of us, so there is no need to be envious of how He moves in another person’s life. There have been many times that I have judged other people’s lives. I could not understand how God could bless them in their current state. I have also had people tell me that they were jealous of my life. The bottom line is, what God does in anybody else’s life is none of our business. All we need to know is that wherever God chooses to take us is His plan for our best life. So, once we get past what others have that we don’t have and whether or not they deserve it, we can become exhorters rather than exhausters to others and ourselves. It does not cost anything to speak a kind word. We do not have to wait until someone does something nice for us to uplift them. We do not have to wait until we reach all of our goals to have a boost of confidence in ourselves. If God is the center of your focus, it is not difficult to encourage those He loves. By practicing encouragement, the life you improve just may be your own. Ms. EV
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