By John Grant
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“Be strong and of good courage, do not fear nor be afraid of them; for the Lord your God, He is the One who goes with you. He will not leave you nor forsake you.�
Deuteronomy 31:6
Attending our three year old granddaughter’s swim meet was a highlight experience. For some, just making it from one end of the pool to the other was an accomplishment. But I noticed an interesting thing.
For those children who had a coach or teacher walking beside them and cheering them on they tended to swim better and faster. It was not that that the coach was pushing them along or physically helping them in any way. But, what they were doing was coming alongside the swimmer and encouraging them on and telling them they could make it, no matter how far the end of the pool seemed to be away. Just when they were ready to give up, as word of encouragement helped them along.
One of the greatest gifts we can ever give to anyone is the gift of encouragement. Validate their dreams. Tell them to get ahead of the future, pick up a trumpet and start a parade. Shoot for the moon and even if you miss, you will be among the stars.
A good friend of mine is a retired Navy captain. At one time in his career, he was chief aide to an Admiral and I will not soon forget his story of speaking at the admiral’s funeral and saying that he would give his life for that officer. Why, because the admiral was an encourager.
The greatest gift we can give to our children and grandchildren is to be an encourager to them. In the Book of (Joel 2:28) it talks about how “your old men will dream dreams and your young men will see visions.� With encouragement, people, young and old, can live their dreams. As Christians, we need to encourage those around us. Encourage them in the faith. Tell them they matter. Challenge them to become the person God so uniquely created them to be.
Encouragement costs you nothing to give, but is priceless to receive. Paul was an encourager to Timothy when he wrote to him and said (2 Timothy 1:7) “For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline.�
As Paul encouraged Timothy, we should encourage one another to rise to the challenges of their calling. “Be strong and of good courage, do not fear nor be afraid of them; for the Lord your God, He is the One who goes with you. He will not leave you nor forsake you.� (Deuteronomy 31:6)
God himself is our greatest encourager, but often he delegates to each of us the responsibility of encouraging someone else. When He calls on us, we should never let Him down.Â
(a thought on life from John grant )
You can comment on this devotional online at:
https://thoughts-about-god.com/blog/2008/07/20/jg_living-life-gods-way/
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John Grant is a former Florida State Senator and is a practicing attorney. He is an active writer and frequent speaker. He can be reached by e-mail at John.Grant@johngrant.net
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