Called to Encourage

There is very little in this world that I feel I do well, and there are plenty of people that I envy from time to time for their abilities (yes, I'm human, get over it).

I try as often as I can to praise and thank people for the work that they do, because at the end of the day, our day wouldn't exist without their help. My prayer is that I always come across as sincere--because there are those times when you feel like you thank people too much, that it's almost like it isn't believable. You know what I mean?

I appreciate the skills of others, even when I have those envious feelings like I wish that I could just do it all on my own--downfall of being a perfectionist control freak. (yes, I admit it) Despite the occasional questioning of my sincerity, I also question if I encourage people enough?

We have such a need for leaders and those to take part in not only building our corps, but building the Kingdom as well. I wonder if I do enough in helping individuals realize their potential as leaders and encourage them along the way. There are so many leaders in this world that need encouragement to continue fighting the good fight, and I also wonder if I spend enough time encouraging them in the right way as well. I sometimes feel like my words may just go in one ear and out the other because I'm just a "stupid lieutenant" or may not be as experienced at they, or even because of the dreaded age factor.

There's that adage that a smile is contagious, and I find this whole subject of encouragement to be the same way--that the more we are able to genuinely encourage people, the more we feel encouraged in our own doings. Kind of like If you tell yourself you're not so bad enough times, you'll stop calling yourself an ugly cow...

Last night I felt to be a bit of a hypocrite. I felt the strong need to encourage a fellow blogger who is experiencing some of the similar feelings that I felt before I threw in the towel on my last blog. In time with God last night, I prayed that the sincerity of my words were stronger than the reality of my past experience. This person has incredible insights and has a great knack for writing about the balance and frustrations of the life of an officer--it's not all daisies and roses everyday, and this person captures those amazing highs and sometimes discouraging lows without being offensive or degrading of any person, place, or thing. Even though 99.9% of my communication with this officer has been via the facebook and blogging over the last few years, I have great admiration for this person and hope that they dig down deep for the confidence that is already within them to continue writing honestly as they have already. I also pray that we are appointed in closer proximity one day because I think we'd have a blast and our spouses would learn from each other in how to crack us up in new, hilarious ways!

Anyway, I digress...sorry if this doesn't seem coherent this evening, but the thoughts really are flowing logically in my brain...just not making it to my fingers. We are told in God's Word that it is good encourage one another. Proverbs 12:25 says, "An anxious heart weighs a man down, but a kind word cheers him up." If we could just always keep that on our minds to continue to build one another up, instead of knock each other down and allow our envy and bitterness to rule our emotions, that we would communicate better with each other and in the end, just get more done together.

As generic and overused as it may be, do unto others as you would have done unto you. It's not only scriptural, but an adage used in so many world religions. Do you really want others to hurt you? Then stop hurting them with your words and actions--find a way to encourage them!