Words of Encouragement

Savannah native, author, and editor Arthur Gordon once wrote about finding a bundle of letters in an old attic. These weren’t just any letters. They were letters written by a grandmother to members of her family and friends shortly after the Civil War. 

Those were hard times in our country. There was still considerable animosity even within families. Many in the South were left in poverty and ruin. Yet Gordon discovered that every one of these found letters ended with the phrase: “Have I told you lately what a wonderful person you really are!”

Just imagine how much those simple words would have meant to each member of her family and to each one of her friends. Just imagine how her letters would have lifted their spirits. Just imagine how they would have felt, and how they in turn would have responded.

Encouragement can be a beautiful thing, and it goes a long way: when it comes to faith, when it comes to work, when it comes to parenting, and when it comes to everyday living.

The Apostle Paul once wrote to the church in Rome, “I am longing to see you so that I may share with you some spiritual gift to strengthen you – or rather so that we may be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith, both yours and mine.” (Romans 1:11)

This just reminds me that when we find ways to encourage others, not only are they strengthened, but something happens in us as well. In giving to others, so often we find our own hearts and lives enriched.

Let us pray: We thank you, loving God, for the encouragement that we have received from others over the years. We thank you for their love and support, and for the ways in which that love and support sustain us. Help us to be the kind of people who build others up. Help us to find and celebrate the good, and to pass it along. May the world know we are Christians by our love. Amen.