Once I was a young college student. I had just been
through my first year of collegiate soccer and I was about to start my second
year. I was the only goalie and I had just gone through a rough first year of
soccer. I was still trying to gain confidence in the abilities God gave me. I
felt more confident than the prior year, which was good.
The bad thing was we had just played in a scrimmage that we lost 6-0. I felt I did my best and that the goals that were scored were good shots. Thus, I was feeling a little down, but not terrible.
The team had just finished going through warm ups before practice. Then the coach began to talk about the game. He asked different people what they thought about it. Then he asked one of our captains to say something positive about the game.
Up until that point many of the comments were negative. This captain did not typically say positive things. She asked if she could single someone out. The coach said yes. She pointed to me and said she thought I did a really good job. She said I had improved since last year and she was impressed. Then we went back to practicing.
Do you think that during that practice I slacked off? No, I worked even harder than usual. Typically, we start out working hard in something because we want to glorify God. Then we begin to slow down for different reasons. It just becomes routine. However, with a little encouragement, we get back into the groove. Encouragement helps us feel like we are making a difference.
At a different time in soccer my team had a meeting. Our captains said, "who here does not like to be encouraged? Raise your hand." Of course, none of us raised our hands. That's because we all like encouragement. Words have power. Actions have power. We may make a compliment in passing but it may mean the world to someone who is having a really rough day.
So, I encourage you to try to encourage someone today. Think to yourself: "how can I show someone God's love today?" That will help you focus on encouraging others.
The bad thing was we had just played in a scrimmage that we lost 6-0. I felt I did my best and that the goals that were scored were good shots. Thus, I was feeling a little down, but not terrible.
The team had just finished going through warm ups before practice. Then the coach began to talk about the game. He asked different people what they thought about it. Then he asked one of our captains to say something positive about the game.
Up until that point many of the comments were negative. This captain did not typically say positive things. She asked if she could single someone out. The coach said yes. She pointed to me and said she thought I did a really good job. She said I had improved since last year and she was impressed. Then we went back to practicing.
Do you think that during that practice I slacked off? No, I worked even harder than usual. Typically, we start out working hard in something because we want to glorify God. Then we begin to slow down for different reasons. It just becomes routine. However, with a little encouragement, we get back into the groove. Encouragement helps us feel like we are making a difference.
At a different time in soccer my team had a meeting. Our captains said, "who here does not like to be encouraged? Raise your hand." Of course, none of us raised our hands. That's because we all like encouragement. Words have power. Actions have power. We may make a compliment in passing but it may mean the world to someone who is having a really rough day.
So, I encourage you to try to encourage someone today. Think to yourself: "how can I show someone God's love today?" That will help you focus on encouraging others.
1 Thessalonians 5:11 and Ephesians 4:29
Image from here.
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