Encouragement

Me and Stephanie (the girl whose Uncle I asked you to pray for) have started a forum where you can discuss these devotionals, ask questions, or request specific devotional topics. See it here:

http://z11.invisionfree.com/LivingWater/index.php?

Encouragement

My inspiration for this devotional came from Ephesians 4, which I read this morning. Heres some sections of it that really stood out to me (all are from The Message translation)

“Take on an entirely new way of life – a God-fashioned life, a life renewed from the inside and working itself into your conduct as God accurately reproduces His character in you.”

“Watch the way you talk. Let nothing foul or dirty come out of your mouth. Say only what helps, each word a gift.”

“Make a clean break with all cutting, backbiting, profane talk. Be gentle with one another, sensitive. Forgive one another as quickly and as thoroughly as God in Christ forgave you.”

Let each word be a gift. I really like that.

As some of you know, I was depressed for a while. I have mostly come out of it, and looking back at it I think there is one thing above everything else that caused it: lack of contact with people. Specifically, lack of contact with encouragement.

Let me explain: me and Juana broke up quite a while back. I think us breaking up was the correct decision (and Juana agrees with me). However, when that happened, I lost a huge part of my life. Outside of camp (where we would see each other every day) we typically spent a day together each week, a good eight hours or so on average.

Now, Juana is a very, very encouraging girl. She always affirms those around her. I didn't realize it at the time, but when I broke up with her I took a enormous amount of encouragement out of my life.

I had come to take that encouragement for granted, and when it was removed I became depressed without even knowing why.

Encouragement is powerful. While I am glad I broke up with Juana, I'm definitely glad I went out with her in the first place. She brought about a lot of good changes in me and I'm a much better person now because we went out, because of how much she encouraged me.

Encouragement is powerful.

I think if the church had even a tiny grasp on encouragement and how to do it, a lot more people would come to church.

If the church were truly a place of love and encouragement, a lot more people would be drawn to it.

Instead we are haughty, and condemn “the world” and talk about how we're so glad we're “in the right” with God.

Jesus did not condemn, he loved, and he encouraged. We are called to be like him.

To the truly lost, Jesus never spoke condemning words. He was harsh to the pretenders and the arrogant, to those full of pride, but to the confused and hurt, he spoke with gentleness and kindness.

This is one of the reasons I love summer camp so much – encouragement abounds there. It doesn't matter what you do, and how badly you do it, there are people that will encourage you and tell you you're awesome regardless of whether or not you're good or bad at something. I think this is part of the reason some kids will come back to camp over and over – they are encouraged there, even if they are terrible at everything.

Another place I've found great encouragement is DRIME. DRIME is a street drama ministry group that goes out every Saturday night to Robson street in Vancouver to share the gospel. During the training times I have never once been put down for doing a part badly. The trainers always manage to suggest better ways of doing a part in a way that is encouraging and positive.

Encouragement is powerful.

Because of encouragement, I have gone from being extremely insecure, to much more confident in who I am and in what God has given me. I still am insecure in a lot of ways, but I've learned how to deal with those insecurities a little bit each day. I actually have the ability to go and talk to people now. Believe it or not, that used to be almost impossible for me.

Because of encouragement, I do these devotionals now. Theres no way I'd be doing these if I hadn't gotten so much encouragement from different people over the years.

I'm not perfect at this, I don't go around encouraging tons people each day, but I do try. I try to be alert – when I see someone do a great job at something, I try to tell them. When I see someone struggling and having a hard time, I tell them that I'm praying for them. I hope that these devotionals, in some way, encourage you in your walk with Christ.

Look at someone other than yourself for once, try and see how they're doing, and opportunities to encourage will present themselves.

This doesn't mean you can't criticize, sometimes harsh criticism is what someone needs. All of us need a good kick in the pants from time to time. But such criticism should never come out of anger, or bitterness, or feelings of superiority. All things you say and do should be born from a desire to see others grow.

And if you feel you must criticize, pray long and hard before you do it, and ask God to give you the right words and ways to go about such criticism. Criticism done wrongly can destroy someone and drive them from God, rather than towards him.

So I have a job for you – encourage somebody this week. For some of you this will be easy, because you've been doing it for a long time. For some of you, this will be very hard, because you've never experienced it and never done it.

But it is something that should be done. A encouraging word from the heart can mean the world to someone.

As you spend time trying to encourage people you will get better at it, and over time it will become second nature, and people will be drawn to you, because you make them feel like they're worth something.

Remember, God loves you like crazy.

God bless.

-Ricky

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