Ephesians 2:10 (New International Version)
10For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
How many people really know the person that you really are? I can say there are very few people in my life that really know all the tragedies of my life, my desires and my shortcomings. They are the people whom I know and trust to be honest and forthcoming with me, to speak in love, and that also see a side of me that isn’t always willing to come forward.
When God reshapes you, molds you, and delivers you from bondage, you are able to be the person he created you to be and called you to be. What matters most is that you are serving him and that he is ultimately the only one that matters in the way you are thought of. What other people think of you doesn’t really matter, it’s what you think of yourself.
When I think about all the dreams, desires, and passions that I have in life, I realize that I am a person who has one thing that some may not have. I truly want to serve others and to be a blessing and positive influence in the lives of other people. I don’t want to be someone who is critical or wants to keep you from being all you can be, but that I want to encourage you to step out and enjoy life. I have not always been that way.
Women are known to be nurturers. Sometimes we mistake nurturing for controlling behaviors. We don’t have to tell people what to do, but to encourage them. Listening has been a skill that I have had to learn and realize that I don’t always have answers for other people’s problems, but they just need someone to vent to. Sometimes they answer their own questions and realize they already had the answers, but they just needed to hear themselves speak it.
Encouragement is defined as following by Dictionary.com: the act of encouraging. Encouraging is: to inspire with courage, spirit, or confidence.
In my next adventures of life, that is what I truly want to do for others. I want to be the encourager, the help mate, the one who others can depend on for kind words or kind actions when they are in need.
My prayer for you today is that you find encouragement in your everyday life and that you find time to encourage someone else along the way.
Originally written 9-03-07
