Word of Hope: Encouragement is Oxygen
At camp, my Dad struggled to help student-athletes understand the necessity of encouragement. Then he compared it to oxygen.
Oxygen is necessary for life; the same is true of encouragement. Just like a room without oxygen steals our life, a life without encouragement steals our hope and our vitality. We need words given as a gift to strengthen us. Encouragement isn’t flattery; it isn’t brown-nosing or buttering others up. Oxygen is never something our body adds for fun but is crucial to the existence of our being. Encouraging words are that important.
As soon as Dad struck upon this comparison, encouragement at camp skyrocketed. Campers encouraged each other, they encouraged staff, and kitchen workers, they began to encourage their families. With Dad’s great analogy, campers could finally make a connection as to why words are so valuable.
Dad understood the power of encouragement. He poured out oxygen everywhere he went. Dad knew encouragement and had the ability to speak the right word at the right moment. Life is difficult, and we need courage.
Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing. 1 Thessalonians 5:11
