Here are some small - but important - things you can do with your words:
- Become a missionary of encouragement. As you go about your day, focus on individuals. Make the most of every contact with every person every day. Someone's lifetime opportunity may be perched on the tip of your tongue.
- Cultivate relationships with young people. Challenge them to be the best they can be for God. Look into their lives and comment on the goodness you see there. Affirm their unique and God-planned place in history.
- Meet people where they are. Scriptures show us that Christ's favorite hangouts were common places where people are freest to be themselves and express their hearts.
- Revel in the rhythm of ordinary things. Embrace the days of bite-size beginnings, tedious tasks, and mandatory meetings. Your words at such times will speak volumes about the quality of life. Let God use you in these common situations.
- Pray about the counsel you give. As much as possible, base your advice on the Bible. Save corrective counsel for situations in which you've earned the right to speak or have a measure of authority. The advice you offer could affect someone's marriage or career.
- Agree to give a friend advice, but have him or her check first with God. Help a new Christian learn to hear God or to use a concordance.
- When you pray, keep your Bible open. Ask God to speak to you through a Scripture or write down an impression you get. In serious matters, ask God for several confirmations and listen for the sound of peace reigning in your heart.
- Acquire a passion for great books. Give books as gifts. Tell people about the books that inspire you, especially ones that fan your flame for God.
- Write a note to someone who is struggling. Recount for him or her God's faithfulness and review His power. Give him or her a story from your own life.
- Read Scripture aloud or over the phone to someone who has been given bad news. God is the message. You are simply the messenger. Avoid speaking your own mind, but seek God's will in every situation, acting as His spokesperson at a moment's notice.
- Determine never to leave church without praying for someone else's need. Keep your prayer list in a place that will encourage frequent prayers - on the bathroom mirror, the dashboard of your car, or above your kitchen sink.
List compiled from "Boost Your Own Word Power" segments of The Words That Inspired the Dreams by Caron Loveless, copyright (c) 2000. Used by permission of Howard Publishing, West Monroe, La., 1-800-858-4109.
Caron Loveless is a writer, pastor's wife, speaker, worship leader, and director of Creative Communications for Discovery Church. She is the author of Hugs from Heaven: Embraced by the Savior and co-author of Hugs for Friends, Hugs for Teachers, God Things Come in Small Packages, God Things Come in Small Packages for Moms, and Taking Your Church off Pause. Caron and her husband, David, their three sons and a daughter-in-law serve in various leadership capacities at Discovery Church in Orlando, Fla.
