“Encouragement is oxygen to the soul.”
George Matthew Adams

“You never know when a moment and a few sincere words can have an impact on a life.”
(Zig Ziglar)
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Encouragement is really about helping someone see how valuable they are to others. (Esther 4)
Encouragement comforts, reassures, energizes, & enables perseverance
Anybody can be an Encourager!
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Listener, kindness, acts of compassion…

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Life-Enhancers -reach out to enrich the lives of others, to lift them up & inspire them (Walt
Disney)
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Barnabas, the Son of Encouragement Acts 4:32-37
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Viewed others as equals despite lack of material things
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Timothy & Epaphroditus –Phil.2:19-27
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“…will sincerely care for your state.”
“…he was longing for you all…”

“Encouragement is deciding to make your problem my problem.” (John C. Maxwell)
Rem. how Barnabas handled Jn Mark?
(Acts 15:36-39)
What ever became of Mark???
-with Paul during 1 st Roman imprisonment (Col.4:10)
-useful to Paul near end of his life (2Tim.4:11)
-fellow laborer with Peter (1Pet.5:13)
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Imagine how different things could have been?

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We can lift people up or take them down
(Maxwell)
Remember Barnabas in Antioch –Acts 11:19-23
“Treat a man as he appears to be and you make him worse. But treat a man as if he already were what he potentially could be, and you make him what he should be.” (Goethe)
“The greatest good you can do for another is not just share your riches, but to reveal to him his own.”
Benjamin Disraeli

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Be committed to Encouraging others daily
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Encourage intentionally –Gal.6:10; Acts 10:38
Three most encouraging phrases:
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I love you, I believe in you, I forgive you
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Be positive in a negative environment
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Optimism is contagious (Prov.15:13, 17:22)
President Lincoln story
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Believe in others
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The Letter to Philemon (esp. vs 21)

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Show people you care about them -Phil.2:3-4
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Believe in them before they believe in you; serve them before they serve you; love them before they love you
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Make others’ priorities your priority
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Don’t be picky about who you Encourage
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Remember the Good Samaritan? Lk.10:29-37
“No matter how busy you are, you must take time to make the other person important.”
(Mary Kay Ash)

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Encouragement is the power to affect the lives of people around you.
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Encouragers are difference makers in someone’s day, week…life!
Be an Encourager of others!