Up With Encouragers

That’s a play on words, of course. Encouragers lift us up, and we need many more such people in our world.

Have you ever heard of a man named Barnabas? No, not from a TV sitcom, from a story about the first Christians. It seems a man moved from the island of Cyprus to Jerusalem and became active in the early Christian church.

The Apostles called him Barnabas, which means Son of Encouragement (Acts 4:36 NKJV). This was no fly-by-night act to win favor. You can read about his further encouragement of believers in Acts 11:19-26.

I’m always intrigued by words. I’m thinking “encourage” would imply “in-courage.” I’ll have to look it up sometime. I know the Bible tells us to encourage one another and build one another up. In our time; however, we are more familiar with “enforcers,” and the contrast is not hard to see.

Everyone thinks his opinion is the most important, and instead of encouraging one another, our world has become ridden with “cancel culture.” It’s really a cancer in our culture because it’s killing people’s communication and relationships big time!

To encourage someone is to give positive support or raise their spirits. Encouraged people have a new sense of hope, and become enlivened to pursue something they felt insecure about earlier.

Encouragement can come packaged big or small. Have you ever noticed the uplifting power of a smile? Rich or poor, sometimes the little things make our day.

When I can, I like to encourage with words and a smile. After lunch at a popular place, I went to use the restroom. A mom came in with her little girl, age 4 or 5. The little girl went into the stall, and when she came out, she was going to walk out when Mom said, “You need to wash your hands.”

On my way out, I smiled and said, “You’re doing a good job, Mom.” She gave me a big smile back.

This is a hurting world. Practice your own kinds of encouragement, but remember . . . it’s not your thoughts that count, but your words and your actions!