Our words have more power than we realize.
We have all experienced the pain when someone says something hurtful to us. On the other hand, just one encouraging word from someone can lift us up greatly, giving us new life.
There was a man in Bible named Joses. He was always so encouraging so his friends called him Barnabas. Barnabas means “Son of Encouragement” or “Son of Exhortation” (Acts 4:36). He made a huge impact on his friends that they wanted his name to echo his life-giving nature.
As a coach, I learned that no matter who you are, you need encouragement. We all want someone to speak highly of us, to lift us up when we are down. I found that the kids on the peewee football team I coach had been talked down to. It didn’t matter their background — wealthy, middle class, Muslim, Jewish — someone in their life had spoken discouraging words to them. The kids had learned to say, “I suck” or “I’m not good enough” when they made a mistake. They even expected me to be a hard, heavy handed coach who screams at them the whole time.
But inspired by the example of Barnabas, I took a different approach to coaching. Being a former pro athlete, I realized my words carried a lot of weight. I chose to coach up, not tear down. When they used negative language, I encouraged them to look for the positive in the situation. When a kid made a mistake, I was quick to encourage them to move on, and I worked to help them fix the mistake in a way that built them up.
I also knew that my actions needed to back up my words. I came early to practice and made myself available to the kids. I took them to the movies, I went to their sporting events. I showed up in their lives, and I brought other positive people and athletes around to affirm them.
We never grow out of our need for encouragement and affirmation. Maybe you can remember a time when someone spoke discouraging words to you, comparing you and making you feel inferior. How that must have stung! But those words of death are not from God. God always speaks words of life over us, always encourages us that we are significant, that we can achieve, that we are strong. The Bible says that He even delights over us with singing (Zephaniah 3:17).
It is in God’s very nature to speak life-giving truths into our lives and situations. So let us be more like God, and like Barnabas, using the power of our words to encourage others, since “the tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat of its fruits” (Proverbs 18:21).