If you’d met Asaph, who wrote some of the psalms, you’d probably have thought he hadn’t a care in the world. But you’d have been wrong: ‘I came so close to the edge of the cliff! My feet were slipping and I was almost gone.’ Then at the end of the psalm he does a one-eighty, and writes, ‘My health may fail, and my spirit grow weak, but God remains the strength of my heart; he is mine forever’ (v. 26 NLT). Even though he had problems, he chose to speak words of courage. When you have an opportunity to encourage someone, do it. You never know what a person is going through – that’s true whoever they are and whatever their circumstances. Here’s an important idea to keep in mind: people tend to become what the most important people in their lives think of them! So, think the best, believe the best, and express the best towards them. Your initial reaction to that might be, ‘They need to stop making the same stupid mistakes!’ But change happens by inches, not miles. Even when it seems simple to us, it’s rarely easy to the person making the change. The only way we can break old habits is to form new ones, and that takes time and practice – lots of it. You can’t tell people something once and expect them to get it; they need to hear it over and over before they can make the adjustment. And how you tell them can determine whether they freeze in fear or soar above the obstacles. Be persistent. Never give up trying to help them improve. Acknowledge every step of progress they make. The way to get lasting results is through patience, love, and encouragement.
