But encourage one another day after day, as long as it is still called “Today,” lest any one of you be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. Hebrews 3:13
The longer I live, the more I realize that life is really all about courage. Jesus knew that. He constantly encouraged his disciples to “fear not.” It’s not really the circumstances of our lives that form us, but our ability to act appropriately in the face of those circumstances.
It seems that all of humanity is divided into those who encourage and those who discourage. The encouragers seem to have one thing in common they view the glass as half full. They see the positive in every situation. They believe one person can make a difference. The discouragers, on the other hand, are half empty people. They see something to worry about, or fear in every situation, and seem determine to pass that fear on to you, to dis-courage. They believe nothing you do really matters.
I watched a lot of football this weekend. I observed that the better teams, the winners, were those led by encouragers, positive folks who motivated their teams to greater effort and to victory. The really evil thing about fear is that it keeps us from “doing.” Courage is the ability to do something that frightens one. The encouraged are the ones who are doing something; they are living life. The discouraged are frozen in their fear. They do and accomplish nothing, simply waiting for something to happen to them.
We are called by our Savior to encourage. We have opportunities to do so daily. It’s not the big fears that get us, but the little ones. We stop trying because we fear failure. We don’t cook because we fear we don’t cook well. Someone needs to tell us we do. We stop ministering because we fear we aren’t making a difference. Someone needs to tell us we are. We need to smile and hug and teach because it makes a difference. We need to tell those who do that it makes a difference so they will continue to do the things that matter.
If life is about courage, then our mission is to encourage and never ever discourage, to do particularly the things that frighten, because those are the things that matter.
Have Courage. Encourage and Be blessed.
Nick
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