Appreciation and encouragement from others is a fundamental human need. A famous football coach tells the story of himself about a vacation he and his family took in Maine. When they walked into a movie theater and sat down, the handful people there applauded. “I can’t believe it; people recognize me all the way up here,” he thought to himself. Then a man came over to him and said, “Thanks for coming. They won’t start the movie for less than ten people.”

We each need to be affirmed and built up, regular reminders that we truly matter. Like a vitamin that our body must have but cannot manufacture for itself, encouragement is something others must provide for us.

Even the Lord Jesus needed a validating word of encouragement now and again, and his Father gave it to him. At the very beginning of his public ministry and again towards its end, God affirmed him powerfully: “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well-pleased” (Matt. 3:17 and 17:5). Surely this is one of the most endearing and “fatherly” glimpses of God in all scripture, speaking the words every son yearns to hear from his father: “You’re my son. I love you. I’m so proud of you.”

Mark Twain’s famous comment, “I can live for two months on one good compliment,” strikes a responsive chord in us all. But while we must never underestimate the value of a sincere compliment, our need is deeper than just for positive, flattering words. We need someone to call us beyond mediocrity and triviality to greater maturity, productivity, and vision. This what the writer of Hebrews was doing in his “word of exhortation” (13:22) when he challenged Christians to “consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds” (10:24).

The gospel of God’s grace is good news precisely because it calls men and women to greatness – greatness as God counts it (Mark 9:34-35). This is authentic encouragement: to affirm a person’s noble qualities and deeds, to deal honestly with his counterproductive ideas and behavior, and to love him unconditionally through it all.

Excerpted from Speaking from the Heart (1986)
by Ken R. Durham, Minister at Falls Church, 1991-1997.