THE ORIGINAL SOURCE FOR WOMEN'S LEADERS SINCE 2001
Simple Lessons with Simple Objectives
Grateful Hearts Make Great Encouragers
Thanks — Lesson 1
Julia Bettencourt
November 06, 2023
Simple Objective: Show others you are grateful for them.
Make it Personal: Share an experience about how a friend or family member was there for you when you needed them.
I thank my God upon every remembrance of you, Always in every prayer of mine for you all making request with joy, Philippians 1:3, 4 (KJV)
At the Thanksgiving table each year we are probably grateful for our food, family, friends, and blessings. And that’s wonderful. We want to have grateful hearts, but do we manifest that by how we treat the people in our lives?
I think sometimes we fail to make others a priority. Perhaps we have known them for a long time, and it becomes simple to take them for granted. Perhaps we aren’t good at sharing our feelings. Perhaps we just don’t even think to show our appreciation for them. Perhaps we forget about how much we need them in our lives. We all have those friends and family that are always there for us, no matter what is going on in the world around us.
We must stop and show those people we care about them. It may be as simple as getting off the phone when spending time with them. Maybe it’s listening to what they have to say and what’s on their hearts, especially those who listen to us and our stories, our pet peeves, and our ups and our downs. We in turn must listen to their life stories.
It’s easy to want our friends to listen to us but not listen to them. It’s easy to rely on our friends but fail to let them rely on us. It’s easy to want our friends to trust us, but yet not trust them. I think when we start being grateful for people, we start treating them differently. We start showing them kindness. We start lifting them up with our words. We start making them feel important. We start making it obvious that we are thankful for them.
A grateful heart that we have for someone can be just the encouragement that they need to lift their spirits. People thrive when they know someone is grateful for them.
So, are you encouraging others with your grateful heart?
Copyright ©2023 Julia Bettencourt
Grateful Hearts Make Great Encouragers (Thanks Lesson 1)Find more in this series on the Simple Lessons with Simple Objectives Page.
See more on the Simplified Ministry Index.
