When You’re a Hugger and an Encourager
That’s me. I come from a family of huggers. These arms were meant to reach out and hug. So, throw me into a world of social distancing, and I’m very uncomfortable. I was amused when someone reacted to my “Are You Vaccinated?” blog with these words: “Jesus would be first in line to get the vaccine with a mask on and help everyone else make sure their mask was on properly.” And, my reply was: “I can’t say that I would agree with you about Jesus having a mask on. After all He touched the lepers — the untouchable — and anyone who had illnesses.”
My heart aches for our world that needs a good dose of love, compassion, understanding and HUGS. Let’s get the truth out there. God, the greatest of all lovers everywhere, didn’t cause this pandemic or any pandemic that preceded this one. Not our God Who “reached out and touched” the untouchable and loved the unlovable. It was our Lord’s mode of operation that He modeled for us at the feet of His disciples as He washed them as the greatest Servant of all. Our Lord was the One Who crowds thronged around Him. He was the One Who called the little children to Him. He was the One who fed the thousands in a crowded situation. So, who is responsible?
It is the enemy of our souls, the greatest hater of all, the one who wants to “distance” us from each other and would rather kill, steal, and destroy our peace, our joy, our hope, and our love. He is the one who tried to take our Lord out, once and for all, by crucifying him. He failed. It is he who doesn’t want us to be lovers and encouragers. But he will not win. He is a loser in every way because we have read the end of the Book, the Bible, AND we win!
A friend posted this: “I hate Facebook” and I commented: “Oh please don’t hate it. It’s my mission field. We must let our little lights shine brighter so the darkness gets lit up with God’s love. I’ve learned to avoid the negative in every way. You have too many blessings to not share them.” Maybe we aren’t free to hug everyone these days, but if we’re not the light and the encouragers, who will be? We can still encourage through social media, email, a text message, a smile, and a kind word wherever we are. Encouragers! Let’s unite to encourager!
Encouragement is something we all need to keep us motivated, loved, and feeling confident in ourselves and what we do. It’s something that is important for our mental and overall health, and it truly can give us just the same amount of joy to give to others as it is to receive it. Where I live, we have a community FB group page and I get inspired with those who pop in with a positive word of encouragement. Imagine how your community could change for the better with a little more encouragement between neighbors instead of community message boards filled with complaints. Or how strong your team at work could become if someone took the lead in encouragement?
We’re going to make it through these times and the more we stay in strong faith and determination, the more we’ll be encouraged and want to encourage others. Don’t be surprised if God taps you on your shoulder to be His representative on this earth as an encourager!
** Hebrews 10:24-25 — “And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds.” ** Romans 15:2 — “Each of us should please our neighbors for their good, to build them up.”**
1 Thessalonians 5:11 — “Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.”