The finest gift you can give anyone is encouragement. Yet, almost no one gets the encouragement they need to grow to their full potential. If everyone received the encouragement they need to grow, the genius in most everyone would blossom and the world would produce abundance beyond our wildest dreams.—Sidney Madwed
We should readily and liberally give the gift of showing faith in others. As many of us can testify from personal experience, it's been the Lord's and others' faith in us, and their seeing the good in us, that has helped us to reach success after moments of despair and times when we've questioned our self-worth.
Your spouse, your co-worker, your child, your brother or sister, and those you are ministering to are capable of anything, because God in them is capable of everything! Show that faith in others at every opportunity, and you will help them to achieve the great things that God has in store for them!—Maria Fontaine
+
There are many examples in history of people who did great things, became someone great, discovered something unknown, invented something ingenious, wrote something creative, sang something beautiful, inspired others, or helped to make the world a better place through their efforts—in great part due to the faith that someone had in them.
The strength of faith and the belief that others had in them helped many of these great people to overcome what seemed to be impossible odds, opposition, danger, or difficulty. They might have ended up unheard of by the rest of the world if they hadn't been inspired to achieve, and as a result of that, pushed themselves to become more than they were.
Many of these great men and women were thought to have had little or no potential to begin with. There have been cases of great teachers, scientists, and inventors who were thought to be below average intellectually as children. Some great athletes have been told that they were too sick, handicapped, or weak to qualify for even the first level of competition. There have been cases of great writers and speakers who could hardly articulate themselves when they first started. World-famous dancers, singers, and actors can remember being turned down at their first auditions due to "not having enough talent."
There are many who failed and made countless mistakes, who showed promise and potential, but were disappointed over and over again—until finally, through the strength to persevere that was ignited in part by those who believed in them, they succeeded.—Jesus, speaking in prophecy
+
A true friend knows your weaknesses but shows you your strengths; feels your fears but fortifies your faith; sees your anxieties but frees your spirit; recognizes your disabilities but emphasizes your possibilities.—William Arthur Ward
+
I saw you when you were nothing, when you had nothing, and I saved you. I saw the potential in you and all that I could help you to become. My belief in you, My love for you, My faith and trust in you, and My forgiveness of you, saved you.
Have you ever let Me down? Yes. Have you ever fallen short? Yes. Have you ever failed? Yes. But have you also grown through the failures, learned to stand back up after falling, and come to love Me more through the times that you have disappointed Me and let Me down? Yes! You are a success to Me, and there is much more success ahead.
Strive to lift others up in the way that I have lifted you up; forgive others as I have always forgiven you; challenge others to press on as I have challenged you; encourage others in the way that I have encouraged you; inspire others with the inspiration I have given you; comfort others with the comfort that you have felt from Me; believe in others as I have believed in you; love one another as I have loved you.
Your loved ones need to see that you want them to achieve, and that you believe that they can achieve. They need you to remind them that nothing is ever too hard for them, because I can help them through whatever circumstances they may face. In their times of despair or heartbreak, they need you to show them that they can pick up the broken pieces and start again. They need to know that no matter how hard they may have fallen, or how many times they may have failed, they can stand up again. They need to know that they are winners, they are champions, and that you believe in them.
Remind your loved ones that they are strong, even when they don't feel strong. They can make it, even when they feel too tired. They can win, even when they think they have already lost. They can try again, even when they have failed. They can love, even when their heart is broken. They can smile and even laugh through their tears. They can succeed, even when the odds are against them. They can do whatever they put their hearts and minds to. Let them know that you believe in them, just as I tell you that I believe in you.—Jesus, speaking in prophecy
+
Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around.—Dr. Leo Buscaglia
+
Seeing the good and possibilities in others can be likened to loving some of those odd and oftentimes highly sought-after fruits, like durian.1 Durian is an acquired taste, and yet there are people fanatically dedicated to durian. Others find that hard to believe.
What makes people crave a fruit like durian? What makes them elevate it to a "king of fruits" status? Why do they light up when they see clumps of those prickly, greenish-brown husks hanging liberally from vendor stalls? How do they get past the pungent, even revolting, odor? What makes them fight their way through the thick, prickly outer husk in order to reach the inside? What makes them obsessed with this fruit that smells like—as some people describe it—dirty socks?
They've fallen in love with what's inside those prickly green husks. They've made it past the prickly outer shell, past the foul smell, and they have tasted the exquisite center.
Loving people and seeing the good and possibilities in others can sometimes be similar to getting to the heart of a durian. People can sometimes be prickly. They can have thick, crusty outer shells. Their presence can sometimes repel rather than attract. People can sometimes be stinky—when they do and say stinky things, or when they sin, as everyone does at times. But to the true people-lover, those barriers and obstacles merely add to the challenge and excitement of reaching that heart of gold—that sweet center of the inner person that you know is there. If it were any easier to get close to people, some of the excitement would be lost, and some of the allure of the adventure would be lost.
Durian is the king of fruits to some. Likewise, people are My crowning creations on earth—each one having a heart and soul that is more valuable and precious than all that this world has to offer. Anyone who has reached inside another's heart, and who has seen what lies beneath the often crusty, prickly shell, has seen the soft and often hurting center. Within that center lies great potential. Within that center lies good. Within that center lies possibility that just needs to be believed in and highlighted.
Once you have touched the center of someone, and then someone else, and then someone else, you start to see that beneath all the layers and tough exterior, everyone has that special place inside that needs to be loved, that needs to be believed in, that needs to be encouraged and appreciated.
People need passionate and dedicated friends and family who love them, who know that there is good and possibility deep inside of them, and who will do anything to reach that beautiful center.—Jesus, speaking in prophecy
+
Charles Schwab, the successful businessman, said, "I have yet to find the man, however exalted his station, who did not do better work and put forth greater effort under a spirit of approval than under a spirit of criticism."
Everyone wants and needs to be affirmed for his accomplishments. A little boy playing darts with his father said, "Let's play darts. I'll throw and you say 'Wonderful!'" That's what the [encouraging] person does for others.
We tend to become what the most important person in our life thinks we will become. Think the best, believe the best, and express the best in others. Your affirmation will not only make you more attractive to them, but you will help play an important part in their personal development.
As Christians, we cannot afford not to affirm others. If I fail to affirm a brother, we both lose.—John C. Maxwell
1 The edible fruit of a tree, Durio zibethinus, in Southeast Asia, which has a hard, prickly rind, a highly flavored, pulpy flesh, and an unpleasant odor.
2 From Be a People Person: Effective Leadership Through Effective Relationships (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2007).
0 Comments:
Post a Comment