I was very happy tonight! My oldest had her first orchestra concert of the school year and she crushed it! This year she is a little older and her demeanor and confidence was night and day compared to last year. Last year she seemed unsure of herself and a bit anxious. This year she was a leader in the orchestra. She was confident and relaxed and did awesome!

There is a really good feeling as a parent when your child is in a place where they are thriving, where they love what they are doing, and they are growing and improving. I was soaring as a parent after her performance. I am not a parent that puts any pressure on my kids for academic achievement. I want it to be something they want to do. I want them to put their best effort to school for their own sense of achievement. There are times when one of my kids gets behind or isn’t putting in sufficient effort to pass a class where we have to talk about it, but mostly I let them figure out.

More and more I am finding myself sending out encouragements to friends around me, especially when I see something good that is going on in their life. I also have some experience with failure and discouragement, so I want to see the people around me succeed and overcome difficulty so I will send them an encouraging text or in a conversation look for a way to build them up. I have been spending a lot time in prayer lately too, and sometimes I will get an encouragement from God for them in prayer. Those are the really cool encouragements. My favorite part is when someone is particularly impacted by an encouraging word I share. I know the word is from God, but when they connect the dots and say, “This one time 5 years ago… this was going on… and your word of encouragement, reminds me…” It is really cool!

Well, after her performance, soaring from the concert, I sent my daughter a text about what I saw: her improvement from last year, her leadership, her confidence, and how I am so proud of her.

Right after I sent the encouraging word, the Holy Spirit put Barnabas “Son of Encouragement” in my mind. He has talked to me about Barnabas in the past. I believe one of my spiritual gifts is the gift of encouragement, also called exhortation.

According to the grace given to us, we have different gifts: If prophecy, use it according to the proportion of one’s faith; if service, use it in service; if teaching, in teaching; if exhorting, in exhortation; giving, with generosity; leading, with diligence; showing mercy, with cheerfulness.
– ROMANS 12:6-8 (CSB)

The gift of encouragement, Paul uses the Greek word parakaleō. The word means to come alongside someone, instill courage in them, comfort the heavy-hearted, and motivate to action. It is a spiritual gift too. It isn’t something that comes from your natural self, it is something the Holy Spirit speaks a word to you and urges you on, and then you act on His prompting to share the word of encouragement.

You know something that I think is kind of funny. When I do those “Love Languages” tests to figure out the way you receive love in the most meaningful way. I almost always get “words of affirmation” as one of my top ways to receive love. The others include acts of service, physical touch, receiving gifts, quality time. As I was processing this tonight, I thought that it is interesting that I “need” words of affirmation from others to feel love, but instead God has given me a spiritual gift of encouragement, which is either synonymous with words of affirmation and if they aren’t the same, they are very similar.

As I was processing, I felt like the Holy Spirit was telling me, “Give away encouragement even though that is what you need.” I do really love encouraging people. Others around me really need encouragement. There is a lot of hard stuff people have to face everyday, and they need an “attaboy.” They need someone saying, “I see you. Good job!”

You know why I can give away encouragement to others, despite my need? Because God is always encouraging me. As I am praying and God and I are looking for someone to bless with a word of encouragement, He is filling me up. He is building me up with His Word of encouragement over me and my life. He sees me. He tells me He sees me. He tells me He loves me. He spurs me on to the good things that He has planned for me. Because I am filled up, built up by the Lord, I can encourage those around me.

God is also telling me I need to encourage people at work. I don’t know how it is at your workplace, but at my workplace there is a lot of discouragement going around. The only time someone is “called out” or the boss comes to talk to them is when something is not going right. Doing things right or “success” in management’s eyes is the norm, and the only time something needs to be addressed is when people aren’t performing up to the standard. But what would happen if I went around looking for ways to call out people for doing good stuff. Their hard work. Their dedication. Their commitment to doing stuff no one else will do for the good of the company. That kind of work needs a special call out. Sometimes just one on one, but maybe from time to time in front of the whole team.

God is encouraging me to grow in this area. And to grow in it at work, where maybe people would see me as a little weird for encouraging others. Well, that is who I am, a Barnabas, “son of encouragement”!

If you have made it this far, you deserve a treat! Enjoy some “HAPPY” by Forrest Frank: