Encourage

There are certain words that I have heard all of my life and never really mulled them over to let them speak to my soul. One of those words was "encourage". I heard someone say that the word meant "to give courage". I thought that was too simple for a definition and got out my trusty dictionary. This is what I found under the word "encourage" - "To give courage". When I read that it was like a light went off inside me. Of course it means to give courage. If you don't feel strong about doing something or fearful about something, someone comes along and says the thing that puts muscle in your blood and helps you do the thing that needs to be done. David encouraged himself in the Lord. He talked to himself and rehearsed the things that God had done through him. That is a great thing to do just in case you don't run into an encourager very often in the passing of your day. If there is no one there to encourage you, encourage yourself!

This also spoke to me of the importance to be the one that helps people find their strengths, remember their past victories, and go forward. Too often, when a friend declares that they are tired or don't know how they will make it through the day, I find myself turning the conversation to myself by saying, "I know how you feel! In fact just now I was thinking..." The better thing would be to say something like: "I know you must feel tired now (discouraged now, or whatever), but I know you and I know that you have come through a lot of things and seen the other side. When you have stuck it out you are so happy that you did." or something along that line. It is important to keep the subject about them and rehearse their victories in order to be the encourager you want to be. I have found that when I encourage someone, I am encouraged in my own things.

Encourage- to give courage. How about that!