Being single in the months of February, November and December can bring all sorts of discouragement. The endless questions — “Are you dating anyone?” “Do you have any children?” “Can I set you up with someone?” — become a mantra from well-meaning family members, friends and church-goers.   Being single, these questions were a source of discouragement for me. I felt less than acceptable and put in the position of questioning if I was important enough to God to supply me with a spouse. I remember the feelings I had of not being in the center of God’s will. It seemed so important to others, so I felt I must be missing the mark.

But I was so grateful when God revealed to me the wonderfulness of being single. He encouraged me to be grateful for who I was in Him, as well as rejecting the lie that I wasn’t complete because I was single. God’s word says I am complete in Him!

What a thrill it is for me to be able to enjoy life today. I’m no longer endlessly hunting for the Holy Grail of marriage to be able to feel complete.

I recently read a wonderful piece about encouragement written by the Rev. Paul Anderson on his blog, “The Daily Wad,” and it hit the nail on the head:

In Acts 13:15, it says, “Brothers, if you have a message of encouragement for the people, please speak.”

Also, in Hebrews 12:11, it reads, “Not every message is pleasant to hear but later on, like discipline, if received and acted upon, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace.”

Good parents realize there is more to be said to their children than directives and correctives. Children require a lot of encouragement. Speaking for myself, I generally know when and wherein I’ve done wrong. I may need a reminder from time to time, but nagging gets old real fast.   

Sometimes I’ve gone to church with emotional  bumps, bruises, and gaping wounds. I didn’t feel like listening to another lecture on what I did wrong. Brothers, if you have a message of encouragement for the people, please speak. I’m thankful for every message of encouragement I’ve heard during my lifetime. Lord, bless those brothers and sisters!

If we look at the word encouragement, “courage” is found. Encouragement means to give courage or to strengthen someone. How different would the world, our families and, yes, the church look if our focus became to lovingly and purposefully encourage other? The family would no longer be weakened by self-centered living and the church would benefit greatly in having less conflict. We would be stronger to face this world to fight the real enemy instead of one another.

I pray that we would speak a message of encouragement each day. 

Think about how little it takes to encourage others. A phone call, a written prayer, a note saying you thought of someone takes very little time and can be life-changing for both you and the recipient.