When you think about yourself, does the word encouraging come to mind?

I know that we all, myself included, would like to be thought of as encouraging, but that’s not always the case.

This can be a painful reminder, especially when we think of the things we’ve said to our spouses and/or children.  Off stage, we sometimes let it all hang out and have regrets later.

There’s sometimes a little nagging voice in all of us that wants to say ‘I told you so’ when people need grace or mercy.  It also says things like ‘that’s what you deserve’ or in our worse yet ‘ha, ha!’.

Most of us were experts at this sort of thing when we were younger and someone had a sour experience or misfortune.  If we were honest, we thought and still sometimes think, they had that coming.

I don’t know about you, but I’m glad I don’t get everything I deserve.  If I did, I’d be in a heap of trouble.

When things go south, especially when it’s your fault, the last thing you want is someone to come along and add insult to injury.

If you lost a baby, you wouldn’t want people to accuse you of not being right with God.

If you got a DWI, the last thing you’d want is for your friends to disown you.

If you lost your job, you wouldn’t want people to say things like you shouldn’t have called in sick so many times.

If you were struggling with your weight, you wouldn’t want someone picking on you about how much cake you eat.

Part of leading and influencing and leading others means encouraging them.  That doesn’t always mean affirming the fault, but it does mean affirming people.  None of us had anything to begin with that was not a gift.  That includes the people in our lives who have contributed the most.

The choice is ours we can encourage or discourage people.

This reminds me of someone who decided to be an encourager.  His name was Barnabas.

In Acts 4:36 we read “Now Joseph, a Levite of Cyprian birth, who was also called Barnabas by the apostles (which translated means Son of Encouragement) and who owned a tract of land, sold it and brought the money and laid it at the apostles’ feet.

Imagine that!  Barnabas was named Joseph (fruitful) at birth and gained the name of Barnabas because he was so encouraging.  In this case, he sold land and gave all of the money to the apostles!  If the truth were told, if we are going to encourage people it is sometimes going to cost us money!  Right?  I don’t know about you, but that kind of story inspires me to be an encourager.  Yet when I’m faced with opportunities to provide this kind of encouragement, I sometimes withhold.  It’s so easy to imagine that someone else will meet the need.  Being an encourager means setting the first example.  Barney did and his story has been retold for over 2,000 years

Resources: Encouraging people encourage with their resources.  Resources aren’t always money, they can include time and energy.  But in this case it was cold hard cash.  It’s easy to think we’re encouragers because we share our time and energies, but that’s only part of the equation if we neglect to part with our money.  The bible teaches to tithe (10 percent) as well as offer free will offerings.  Many do tithe, but are stingy in the line at the convenience store or in the community when there is a need.  We can also justify ourselves when there is a special offering, on the grounds that we tithe.  Barnabas solved the problem by giving 100%.

The next time we read about Barnabas, he is standing up for an ex-murder who experienced a radical transformation after meeting Jesus.  Acts 9:26-27, says, “When he came to Jerusalem (Saul), he was trying to associate with the disciples; but they were all afraid of him, not believing that he was a disciple.  But Barnabas took hold of him and brought him to the apostles and described to them how he had seen the Lord on the road, and that He had talked to him, and how at Damascus he had spoken out boldly in the name of Jesus”.

Rejects: While the apostles, the very people who spent time with Jesus for 3 to 3 1/2 years rejected Saul, Barnabas did not.  Talk about the majority not always being right!  Only 1 in 12 were willing to give Saul a second chance.  Not only did Barnabas embrace Saul, he was willing to lay his own reputation on the line to promote him among his own peers while the term reject seems harsh, you know what I mean when I use the word (preachers always have to alliterate!  :-).  But from a teaching stance, this kind of language stands out.  It’s not our works that make us acceptable in God’s eyes, it’s the gift his Son Jesus provided for us on the cross.  The last thing we want to do is reject someone who God has reconciled with.  Yet, its so easy to withhold acceptance from people who don’t act like we do.  Once they do, we tell ourselves, then I’ll start spending time with them.  If Jesus held that view, the apostles would never have received the training they needed.

The good news is that God is an encourager!  I don’t know about you, but when I think about Barnabas and his actions and attitude, I think of God.

Imagine if today, you decided to be an encourager…at home (wow!), in the market place, among friends, in your church.  The potential is unlimited to what could happen.  The next time you have good reason to scold someone, take a minute to think about how you can encourage them.  If you want a greater challenge think of 3 ways you could encourage them or 5 ways!

I’m sure that all of us at this point in our lives can think of atleast one person who needs encouragement.  What are we waiting for.  Encourage people!