I once had a roommate that was a musician, and the year we lived together he was in the process of writing and recording an album. Let me assure you this wasn’t fancy or glamorous, anyone with the money and time can go lay down some tracks. He was plenty talented and could write a pretty good song. However, when he would ask what I thought of his latest song, I made the mistake of giving him my honest opinion. He did not want my honest opinion, he just wanted me to say, “oh yeah that’s great!”

It took me a while to figure out that he was just looking for encouragement. Encouragement is one of those gifts that some people hit out of the park with what seems like no effort. Anytime you see them it’s like a breath of fresh air or the sun coming out on a rainy day. The rest of us need to work at it.

It’s weird, we all know that warm feeling we get when someone gives us some honest encouragement. Why wouldn’t we want to give that to the people around us? As believers we have a hope that others have not yet found. From that hope we should be able to be a shining light to others. Hebrews 10:22-24 tells us,

22 let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. 23 Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. 24 And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works,

It feels like this should be simple, “you know how much you have been forgiven just live a life of thankfulness and share the love you have with the everyone you meet.” But like most things in life the things that sound simple they turn out to be a thorn in your side. You want to be healthy? Just eat right and exercise. Sounds great but I’m too hungry, too busy, to whatever right now.

And that is why we need to make a resolute effort to reach out and be encouraging to the people around us. A simple compliment or kind gesture can turn someone’s whole day around. I pray we can be the bright spot in otherwise gloomy times.