Encouragement

Sometime back I read about a 9th-grade math teacher named Helen Mrosla who one Friday afternoon broke away from her lesson plans. Apparently, that day her students were not getting the lesson. They were edgy and frustrated. About at her wit’s end, the teacher instructed the class to put away the books, and pull out a piece of paper. They were asked to list each person’s name in the class on a sheet of paper and then write something nice about each one. When the students read what other classmates had written about them, the atmosphere in the class changed instantly. The students were smiling again and able to continue with their math lessons.

I recently returned from a trip to Montreat North Carolina with our youth group. One of our student’s favorite parts of the youth conference was a very similar activity. Every year their small group leaders invite the students to make a paper booklet. Students are then instructed to write in each other’s booklets words of affirmation and encouragement. I heard from more than one student that they hold on to these booklets, year after year – even keeping them in prominent places in their rooms at home.

Mother Teresa once said, “Kind words can be short and easy to speak but their echoes are truly endless.”

The apostle Paul put it this way, “Let no evil talk come out of your mouths, but only what is useful for building up, as there is need, so that your words may give grace to those who hear.” (Ephesians 4:29)

The truth is we have opportunities all the time to bless with our words. If you think about the people God has placed around you right now, are there words that they might need to hear from you today?

Let us pray: Dear God, remind us today to share a word of encouragement with each and every person we meet. Amen.