Everyone needs private encouragement. A quiet word that no one else may ever hear. A word of thanks, a naming of strengths, a calling out of unique and beautiful gifts. We need this because we are prone to see only the worst in ourselves.
Everyone also needs public praise. A word that others are allowed to overhear. A word of thanks, a naming of strengths, a calling out of unique and beautiful gifts. We need this because we are prone to imagine that others see only the worst in us.
One of the best parenting tips I was ever given was to sing the praises of one of my kids to their sibling, or to my spouse—while knowing that the one being affirmed could overhear! Private encouragement is powerful. Public praise is doubly powerful because it also counts as private encouragement.
Shoutouts ought to be a regular spiritual discipline.
Today I happened to come across two similar verses from two different Psalms:
I say of the holy people who are in the land,
“They are the noble ones in whom is all my delight.”
Psalm 16:3
My eyes will be on the faithful in the land,
that they may dwell with me;
the one whose walk is blameless
will minister to me.
Psalm 101:6
Who is one of the “holy people,” one of the “noble ones” who you delight in? Who is one of the “faithful” that you are blessed to do life with? One of the “blameless” who minister to you? Give them a shoutout today!
