I Believe in You!
“Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing” (1 Thessalonians 5:11, NIV).
Our 12 year old daughter Sara was recently playing in an out-of-town soccer tournament. Sara’s team had already played one game in the tournament and they were waiting and preparing to play the next game. Sara and a teammate of hers asked me if I would take them to a nearby building as they both had to go to the washroom.
As we were walking towards the building, they both started to discuss some apprehensions that they had about the team that they were going to play next. In previous years, they had played this team in this same tournament. Sara and her teammate talked about how the parents of this particular team had yelled from the sidelines at them and did not speak very kind words to them as they were playing. Sara and her teammate also told me that the girls on this team also said mean things to them during last year’s game. Both of the girls were anticipating the same negative reaction this year, and they both seemed anxious and worried.
I decided that this was a Just Say It! moment! Instead of focusing on the negative, I decided to encourage both of them. I said, “I believe in both of you”. Both of you have the ability to outplay and to outwit your opponents. Obviously this team uses a negative strategy by saying mean things to you to try to distract you from your focus on the game. As well, it sounds as if their parents use a similar strategy.
I encouraged both of them to find strength from within. To block out any negative statements that might be said to them by either the players or their parents, and to instead use those statements to motivate them to overcome. I encouraged both of them to play even harder and to not let the mean words discourage them, but to instead find the courage to use this negative situation as a positive energy booster. I then went on to encourage Sara and her teammate to combat the negative statements being said to them by turning them around into stating positive statements in their heads and to each other as they were playing on the field.
I encouraged them to turn around these negative statements that are meant for their harm into good!
Sara and I always quote the scripture found in 2 Timothy 1:7 NKJV, “For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.”….so, when I was talking with her and her teammate, I shortened it up and said – “You have the spirit of Power within you”…Sara smiled as she knew what I meant and she knew that I was referencing this scripture verse.
The girls started to laugh! Smiles quickly appeared on their faces as their countenance became brighter! We kept repeating as we walked back to the field, “we have the power within” and we were raising our arms up in the air!
As the game started, I reflected on the example that the parents on the other team were setting for their daughters. They were teaching their children how to talk very negatively. The parents were modeling and encouraging their children to speak words of discouragement. Instead, I was encouraging Sara and her teammate to speak words of encouragement, words of life and blessing.
Some of you may find yourself on a soccer, baseball or football field this summer, or some other type of sporting event with your child, grandchild, niece, nephew, neighbor or friend. What example are you setting? What words are coming out of your mouth? Are they words of encouragement, to uplift and admonish others? Or are they words of discouragement filled with hatred and strife? Think about the example you are setting for others around you during these sporting events.
I encourage you to Just Say It! with your words, tell someone today, that you Believe in them.
I encourage you to find someone today that you can encourage and say the words “I believe in you”. It can be anyone who occupies your inner circle or outer circle such as your spouse, your child, your neighbor, your co-worker or the cashier at the grocery store. Tell them that you believe in them and then tell them why. Pay attention to their reaction and what they say to you in response. What effect did speaking the words, “I believe in you” have on you? What effect did speaking the words, “I believe in you” have on the person that you spoke these words to?