To stay at our level of proven competence is to stagnate.
Ray S. Anderson
When I read the words above I immediately think, "What can I do to get better?" When I read the words below I am challenged to stop thinking about myself and turn my gaze to those around me:
Trust is giving someone the freedom and responsibility to fail in order to grow. Encouragement is a process that helps us grow by giving us trust beyond our competence.
When I think back on my childhood, I am grateful for a father who was not satisfied that I was simply "competent." He trusted me and he encouraged me to "step up" to greater heights. Over the years God has brought others into my life who have also come bearing the twin gifts of trust and encouragement.
- Who trusted and encouraged you when you were growing up?
- Who does it now?
- Okay . . . who needs that same gift of trust and encouragement from you today?
"Therefore encourage one another and build one another up"
1 Thessalonians 5:11
_____________________ NOTES:
1 Ray S. Anderson. Unspoken Wisdom: Truths My Father Taught Me (Minneapolis: Augsburg, 1995), page 25.