By Mark Maher
The path to affirm others and to give them confidence and “Speak Life” into them, is really about “honoring them.” (Romans 12:10) What a gift if you could honor every single person, as this would raise your capacity for love, and you would have to lose judgment, envy and comparison. We are to “have equal concern for each other.” (1 Corinthians 12:25). Our “honor” is not predicated on our preferences.
What is the answer to bringing people to Christ? Encourage, love, and you leave your judgment at the door and see people for who they are becoming because “in Christ there is no condemnation.” (Romans 8:1) Lead with empathy and love. Value people. Raise people up. Be present. “How I value people is how I view people. Valuing people is essential to bringing people to Christ.” John Maxwell
Affirmation is powerful. Do you lift people up? Do you choose to speak life when the opportunity arises. People remember words of affirmative, you do, look back over your life. Who had the gift of prophecy and could tell who you were becoming before you could. “In his grace, God has given us different gifts for doing certain things well. So if God has given you the ability to prophesy, speak out with as much faith as God has given you.” (Romans 12:6)
Surround me Lord with those who affirm my faith walk. We need affirmation. Let them in, take the walls down, choose to embrace rather than push away. What is the cornerstone of our faith? When we follow Jesus, we experience His love, love begets love.
Affirmation is truth telling. It’s not counterfeit. “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)
“From him the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it BUILDS ITSELF UP IN LOVE.” (Ephesians 4:16)
If you had the opportunity to change somebody’s heart, would you do it? How would you do it? Proverbs 12:25 says, “An anxious heart weighs a man down, but a kind word cheers him up.” Your affirming words can cheer up the hearts of those around you today. Your words can actually change another’s heart.
Who has blessed your life through loving affirmation, and let’s not forget how God affirms us and this should motivate us enough to affirm others. “Encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing.” (1 Thessalonians 5:11)
