5-9-21 Brick by Brick
Quote: “It takes 6-8 pallbearers to lift you up when you’re deceased. Imagine what you can accomplish if you had 6-8 people lifting you up while you are living.”
Whoah… Mic drop!
No one likes to think about pallbearers, caskets, funerals, or death. These aren’t very “lift-you-up” kind of topics.
But there is another kind of lifting up that needs to become a priority in this sad, dark world. All you have to do is watch the news or read an online article and you can quickly become horrified at just how scary this world is really becoming. I’ve had to limit my screen time with the news as I’m sure many of you have.
But what about lifting others up? There is such power in bringing light to a situation. Putting a positive spin on it. Breathing fresh air into a person’s life. Think of a stray balloon being lifted higher and higher into the air by a swift wind. The possibilities are endless when we use our time, talent, and treasures to lift others up!
If you have never taken a spiritual gifts test to find out your top gifts, you are missing out! It’s a free 100+ question test that asks you all these questions about how you would respond to different situations. You end up finding out your God-given gifts that are to be used during your life to serve others and build up the Christian faith. I remember the day I took it and got my results. There were 2 gifts in my top 3 that I didn’t even know what they were! Talk about shocked. My number 3 was exhortation – I had to look it up. Exhortation means encouragement. We all have all the gifts but some of them come supernaturally and are our “go to” ways that we like best to show love and help people.
I absolutely love encouraging people. I mean it. Text, email, snail mail, messenger, video chat, phone call, face-to-face with coffee – you name it. I love dropping lines of love. In the grocery store aisle, at the post office, on a soccer game sideline, or even at a stoplight – I love dropping little truthbombs. It’s natural. It’s not hard. It’s one of my super powers from the Holy Spirit. And all the credit goes back to the one who gave me the gift. (You can take the free test here at this link: www.spiritualgiftstest.com)
So when I found out the spiritual gift of encouragement was in my top 5, I decided to look for as many verses as I could to support this gift and I posted them on notecards everywhere so I could memorize them. One of my favorite verses on this topic goes right with the quote this blog is about. Paul is speaking to the people at the church of Thessalonica and says this: “Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.” (1 Thessalonians 5:11). Encouragement is all about building each other up from the ground up!
Think of the brick house the third little piggy built that the big bad wolf kept trying to blow down. It was sturdy. Strong. Impenetrable. No matter how many times he huffed and puffed, that house was not coming down!
That’s what I think of when we are encouraging others. We are adding bricks to their sturdy frame…brick by brick. The more the bricks, the stronger the frame. I don’t know about you but I want to be a part of the strengthening of others, not the tearing down of them. I want to see them succeed. I want to see them healthy. I want to cheer them on and be there to help pick them up when they fall down.
But the coolest thing happens when you start focusing on others’ needs. You suddenly look around and see that there are cheerleaders surrounding you. You’ve lifted so many people up that they are now lifting you up with whatever gets put on your path. They help lift your frown into a super wide smile when you need it most. And when God gives you what seems like impossible dreams and goals, they don’t shake their head in disbelief. They say, “Okay – let’s do this!”
They aren’t just lifting you up when you’re gone.
