Encouragement

Last night Joel Osteen was in Louisville at Freedom Hall for an evening of hope and encouragement. The place was packed as you can imagine and for about 3 hours we listened to Joel preach a wonderful message on how encouragement can affect so many people in so many ways.

In a world where there is such a lack of it, it was great to hear this message and get a fresh, clean perspective on what power we truly have just by saying a few kind words. And looking back on my life and growing up around the things I did I know that the people who were in my life whispering those words of encouragement are the ones that I cherish and tend to respect the most.

Today's teenagers and young adults are faced with a constant bombardment of disapproval, distrust and lack of dreams which tends to imprison them for life. Instead of accomplishing their dreams and making a positive contribution to not only society, but also to God's kingdom, it robs them of their full potential. Having been in the Jr. High ministry for two years now I tragically witness these things first hand. I really resonated with what Joel was saying last night and consider his message a huge blessing.

So how do we change the status quo?

It's pretty simple really. Just start planting the seeds of encouragement. Take the time to find the things that someone excels at or does really well and give them a compliment on that. Let them know that you notice those things. Most of the time young adults feel so "unnoticed" that they crave attention and look to all the wrong ways of making up for it. Positive feedback, words of encouragement, small compliments. It will all lead to a huge difference if enough people are doing it!