Everyone needs encouragement, and everyone young or old, the successful or less-than-successful, the unknown or the famous; everyone who receives encouragement is changed by it.

What does true encouragement look like – the kind that changes lives forever?

To encourage people is to help them gain courage they might no otherwise possess – courage to face the day, to do the right thing, to take risks and to make a difference.

If you are a parent, you have responsibility to encourage members of your family, if you lead an organization, the effectiveness of your team will increase dramatically in proportion to the encouragement you give to them. As a friend, you have the privilege of sharing encouraging words that might help through hard times or inspire them to greatness!

Encouragement has the power to change everything – individuals, families, schools, businesses, and churches – by creating an environment where people become their best.

I hope that you will be encouraged reading this, and that once you have been encouraged, that you will pass on that encouragement to others.

A few years ago, in the San Francisco Bay area of America, A principal in the district called in three teachers and told them that because of their expertise, they were considered the finest teachers in the system. He also told them they would be given 90 high-flying students who would be allowed to learn at their own pace to see how far they could advance over the next 12 months.

At the end of the year, these students achieved 20 to 30 percent better grades than other students in the entire San Francisco Bay area.

The principal called the three teachers in and told them he had a confession to make… He told them they didn’t have 90 of the most intellectually gifted students. In fact, academically, they were run-of-the-mill, average students picked at random.

The teachers naturally concluded their exceptional teaching skills must have been responsible for the students’ great progress. But the principal had another confession to divulge: These teachers were the first three names drawn out of a hat!

Why, then, did these students and teachers perform at such an exceptional level for the entire year? They were encouraged to believe that they could.

Encouragement makes us better: Discouragement stops us in our tracks

There is a choice we have to make: We are constantly bombarded with feelings of inadequacy, insufficiency, lack, and failure; so much discouragement that we often feel defeated before we even start the day.

We need to fight discouragement by:

  • Rejecting rejection

  • Believing God’s Truth about ourselves

  • Expect positive things

  • Rely on God’s strength

My wife Hannah is an amazing encourager… when things are at they’re worst, she is always encouraging, supportive, and speaks God’s truths about me

Who is your greatest encourager?

So often as a Christian, trying to change your life, live more like Christ, and stand out can feel like you’re constantly fighting against what you know is the right way – God’s way to live.

Ever thought maybe you were mad? Well what is encouraging to know is that lots of other people have felt the same in the past, but listening to the so-called experts isn’t always the best or wisest choice – have a read of the views of these ‘experts’:

“Heavier than air flying machines are impossible.”

– Lord Kelvin, president, Royal Society, 1895

He also said that “X-rays will prove to be a hoax.”

“You’ll never make it — four groups are out, plus guitar music has no future.” —

Decca record company executive to the Beatles, 1962

“Everything that can be invented has been invented”

Charles H Duell – Director of the U.S. Patent Office, 1899

“Sensible and responsible women do not want to vote”

Grover Clevelent – US President – 1905

After being dropped from his high school basketball team, Michael Jordon went home, locked himself in his room and cried!

God has an amazing purpose for your life, and sometimes you have to believe that, despite the discouragement of people around you, you will suceed.

What would you do if you knew you weren’t going to fail?

The bottom line is this: Don’t listen to discouragement. We have a choice which voice we are to listen to, the voice of encouragement, and truth, or that of discouragement. We can choose who we spend our time with, who we listen to, and how much time we spend listening to God’s view of us.

Perhaps it’s the exact opposite of what you might expect or even believe, but God is our biggest encourager, and knowing what he says about us makes our lives a whole lot better. God knows our value

When we realize who we are in Him, what we have in Him, and what we can do in Him, we will rise up and be all we are called to be and do all we are called to do – This is God’s voice of encouragement.

You ARE who God says you are & you can do all He says you can do.

Psalm 91 is one of the most encouraging passages of the Bible…

…and in it God promises us 6 P’s of encouragement:

His Presence

…You don’t have to be lonely, no matter what you’re going through

His Protection

…God keeps you safe as you take risks for Him

His Peace

…You don’t have to feel insecure, even in unfamiliar places & surroundings

His Perspective

…God gives you an eternal view of life that keeps you steady

His Provision

…Regardless of your needs, God meets them

His Power

…When times are tough and you’re going through adversity, God will carry you through

God is our greatest encourager, and we are to be encouragers:

Why? – God’s love for us

God wants us to stand along side one another — “Encourage one another–and all the more as you see the Day approaching” (Hebrews 11:25, NIV).

God does this for us.

He “supports us in every hardship, so that we are able to come to the support of others, in every hardship of theirs because of the encouragement that we ourselves receive from God” (2 Corinthians 1:14).

We’re created to support and encourage one another.

How? – God’s love in us (His Spirit)

God wants us to build one another up support each other — The word support literally means to increase one another’s potential. It carries the idea of strengthening one another, to make one another more able to face the challenges of living for Christ.

“We are in this fight together” (Philippians 1:30 NLT).

We cannot afford to lose anyone. To succeed, you need the strength supplied by the Body of Christ, just as they need you –

Church is about being a family, and a bunch of people with Jesus in the centre – we’re stronger together.

Who? – God’s love working through us (It’s his love that we communicate to others.)

God wants us be encouraging and patient with one another — When we support one another, we express God’s unconditional love. Even after we grow close enough to each other to learn one another’s quirks and annoying little habits, we will stick by each other’s side. “With all humility and gentleness, and with patience, support each other in love” (Ephesians 4:2 NJB).

Everyone needs encouragement and everyone who receives encouragement is changed by it.

To encourage people is to help them gain courage they might no otherwise possess.

Philippians 2:3-4 – God is THE expert encourager, especially to those who are at their weakest.

The heart of encouragement is to communicate a person’s value.

God knows your value more than anyone else. God’s encouragement has the power to change everything, READ HIS WORD and make the choice to listen to His voice of encouragment..

…I bet you once you grasp that, you won’t be able to help being an encourager – go ahead and pass on that encouragement to others!

Who will you encourage today?

What specific thing will you say?