Everyone Needs Encouragement.

You can’t help but be impressed by the participants in the Winter Olympics. They are at the top of their class. We say it is due to their skill, talent, passion, dedication, commitment. There is no doubt that they are the best at what they do.

Place them in front of a microphone and they deflect the reasons we give for their being at the top of their class. In its place they reel out a list of “Thank You’s” to Mum, Dad, spouse, friends, trainers, coaches ad infinitum. Thanks that is, for encouragement and support. They say very little about themselves. This is because without encouragement and support no one goes anywhere.

Encouragement moves us through all kinds of obstacles and life challenges. I recall High School Teachers who encouraged a shy, reserved, insecure young boy to practice the craft of writing, sharing ideas and public speaking. A whole new world opened before him. He discovered knowledge and learning skills that transformed how we practiced and evaluated life changing opportunities. The encouragement gave him the confidence to venture into worlds that were new and foreign and on the side of ‘better and best’ instead of the ‘good and okay’. The best Teachers still do this today.

The biblical writings are filled with encouragement for everyone who asks a question about their life and what they value. God encourages us to hunger and search to know more about ourselves and our universe and beyond. Knowledge like that can’t just be stuffed down our throats! Each step through the biblical Story of Creation God is reported as saying these famous words: “God said it was good”. These are words to encourage us to find out why he would call it good. He has even better words to say about the creation of humans! The encouragement is to follow the journey of life discovery. We can’t accomplish the successful journey on our own. Encouragement must surround us.

Popular cultural emphases today focus on finding the common human denominator and setting it as the standard to encourage equality and freedom. Lets make the rules so ‘everybody wins’ and shares wealth (however we define it) without even playing the game. Karl Marx promoted this concept in the ‘Communist Manifesto’ as he sought ways to equalize sharing wealth of the new economic order of his day. We encourage the same when we tell our children ‘to do as we say’ and steal from them the lesson opportunity to discover what is better or best. We would do better to encourage them to learn and practice skills that enable them to make good, productive, life affirming decisions on their own. Encouragement is at the heart of self discovery.

The Bible is filled with people of encouragement. They encourage us to step out and seek ways of living that affirm life for all. They encourage us to focus on values that help us to grow in life affirming ways. This path requires encouragement because it is not the easy way. It is avoided or rejected by most because it is not easy. As someone said: “Take the easy way and life will get harder. Take the hard way and life will get easier.” We all need encouragement to test those harder waters!

We may not qualify to participate in the Winter Olympics. But with encouragement we can all be Olympians of the Christian life, the better life.