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You can change someone’s life for the better and forever with just a few words of kindness and encouragement. Believe it or not, your words are very powerful!
Let me give you an example of how a few simple words of encouragement can change someone’s life. Back in the early 1980s, I couched baseball. I couched girls softball, boys little league, boys Babe Ruth, and Connie Mack teams. On one of my teams, I had a young man come to try out whose name was Denver. Denver was a tall, thin, and clumsy young man who lacked any basic baseball skills. The other boys were picking on him and putting him down, and you could see the affect it was having on him and his confidence. After the basic workout, I sent the other boys home and had Denver stick around. You could see Denver was down as the other boys told him that I was going to cut him from the team, and to be honest, that was what I was thinking of doing. But something told me (God), that this kid just needed someone to believe in him. So, I sat Denver down and told him I saw great potential in him, and that he needed to ignore the other boys putting him down, because they just wanted him to fail. I put him out in centerfield and told him he had a cannon of an arm and the speed needed to cover one of the most important positions in baseball. I showed him how to use his legs to put more power into throwing the ball, and how to plant his feet to get the best accuracy when throwing. After, a few minutes and continuous praising, Denver came around. The next day, all the other boys where amazed at the new Denver – a proud, confident young man, that covered centerfield like a seasoned player. Denver went on to become one of my best players I ever couched.
Point being, you can change someone’s life with just a few words of encouragement. You can make a poor performing student or employee rise to new heights of greatness with a few words. Most people just need someone to believe in them; be that person.
You will be amazed at how immediate and powerful the results are when you begin employing positive re-enforcement. Test it today on someone you think is failing or doing poorly at something and tell them how much you respect them and their talent. Use every opportunity to praise them and watch how fast they respond and turn around. Remember, you can negate the positive with one negative, or if someone else negates your positive with a negative, so if you hear someone cancel out your positive, re-enforce it again, and again.
You can use this for anything – sports, work, and personality. Yes, you can make a shy, unconfident person, out going and full of confidence.
What better way to serve the Lord than to be help people gain the self-confidence they need to succeed in
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