Gifts in Your Hands

Through the Holy Spirit, your words are gifts in your hands, able to strengthen others and remind them that God is still at work. A few sincere sentences spoken in love may become the very encouragement another person needs.

Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing.
– 1 Thessalonians 5:11 ESV

When you receive an unexpected gift, it brightens an ordinary day. Even something as simple as a handwritten note or thoughtful text can leave you smiling for hours. Similarly, when you encourage others, their faces light up, their shoulders relax, and joy quietly fills the moment. Encouragement costs very little, yet its impact is special. God has given you the ability to speak life into people who may be carrying burdens no one else can see.

Barnabas, an early church supporter and missionary understood this well. When reports reached the church that many people in Antioch were placing their faith in Jesus, he traveled there with a heart ready to strengthen them. Instead of criticizing what was incomplete, he celebrated God’s work and urged the new believers to remain faithful to the Lord. He recognized that growing believers needed encouragement as much as instruction. His encouragement became a source of stability for a growing church.

A few Spirit-led words can encourage and bring lasting influence.

You cross paths with people every day who need hope more than they need another opinion. A thoughtful compliment or a reminder of God’s faithfulness can redirect someone’s perspective and restore hope. The Holy Spirit delights in using ordinary conversations to accomplish extraordinary purposes.

Use the gifts God has given you to speak sincere and encouraging words. God promises that faithful, obedient love never returns empty.

Today’s One Thing
Who do you know that needs an encouraging word? Ask God to direct your path to that person, and affirm, “I will trust the Holy Spirit, and I will use my words to encourage others.”

Go Deeper

SOCIAL REFLECTION:
The words you choose today could become someone else’s turning point tomorrow.

SOCIAL QUESTION/TEASER:
Who first comes to mind when you think, “They could really use some encouragement today?”

Go Deeper

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