"Encourage and build each other up"

Truett Cathy once wrote, “How do you know if a child needs encouragement?  If he or she is breathing.”  This is so true; and of course, it is true for adults as well as children.  Encouragement is incredibly powerful.  The Bible says, “Let everything you say be good and helpful, so that your words will be an encouragement to those who hear them” (Ephesians 4:29; NLT).  1 Thessalonians 5:11 reads, “Therefore encourage and build each other up.”  The Bible makes it crystal clear that we are to speak words that encourage, edify, and build others up.

Let me tell you why I’m mentioning this today.  A few days ago, a coworker spoke encouraging and edifying words to me regarding my job performance for the position that I was working that day.  I wasn’t having a bad day, but her words encouraged me.  My attitude was lifted.  Her kind comments to me were the highlight of my day.  It was a vivid reminder of the power of encouragement.

It was also a reminder of the power of the words we speak.  Thankfully the popularity of this phrase has waned of late, but it used to be spoken all the time; the phrase is, “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me.”  This is wrong.  Words have the potential to hurt very deeply.  Words can be impacting in either a very helpful or a very harmful way.  In fact, the Bible says, “The tongue has the power of life and death” (Proverbs 18:21).  I want to speak words of life; words that edify and encourage others.

Kevin