⁹ With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse human beings, who have been made in God’s likeness. —James 3:9 NIV

1. Encourage: to

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support, confidence, or hope to (someone).

2. As a Christ follower, we should use our

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to encourage and not to discourage.

¹¹ Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing. —1 Thessalonians 5:11 NIV

²⁴ Gracious words are a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and healing to the bones. —Proverbs 16:24 NIV

²⁹ Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. —Ephesians 4:29 NIV

¹⁸ But the things that come out of a person’s mouth come from the heart, and these defile them. —Matthew 15:18 NIV

3. Hurt people,

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people.

¹³ But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called “Today,” so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness. —Hebrews 3:13 NIV

³³ “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” —John 16:33 NIV

4. We remember the

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words that were spoken to us and we

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remember the positive, uplifting ones.

5. What is your

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of encouraging words to negative?

There is no one right way to encourage someone. Don’t over think it. Just do it.

Here are a few ideas:

1. Pray and ask God to make you an encourager. Ask Him to give you a heart that loves others and how to creatively show it.
   

2. Study Barnabas in the bible and ask God to make you more like him. If you did not know, Barnabas means “son of encouragement.”
   

3. Pray for God to show you who to encourage. Ask God to bring someone to mind.
   

4. Regularly encourage your church’s pastors, staff, and ministry volunteers.
   

5. Make encouragement a daily discipline.