identity exercise: encouraging

I think this is pretty true of me.   I think I can envision good and success for other people in a way that I can't for myself.  

I wasn't always a positive person.  I remember growing up, my mother would play this game with us, where we would choose a topic and she would tell us which one we "were" - flowers, colours, etc.  We did it for the Hundred Acre Woods characters, and she said I was Eeyore - and she couldn't have been more accurate.  With hindsight, I know why:  I lived with childhood depression without having words for it.  I remember doing a spiritual gifts evaluation in high school and being told exhortation was one of my gifts, but I was definitely more of a gloomy sort with a generally negative outlook and not much hope for good. 

In college, my dormmates and I used to tear each other down in "fun", and complain a lot.  Our dorm brothers took note and challenged us to memorize 1 Thessalonians 5:11, "Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact, you are doing."  That was the beginning of taking note of my words.

As an adult I retained a lot of the negativity, and I especially began to notice it in 2009, when I joined Facebook.  My statuses always seemed to be complaints, and I didn't like it.  I remember deciding at the beginning of one year, to be purposeful about sharing positive words on Facebook.  People always say that social media is a place where everyone posts all the good stuff about their lives, but I think social media can be a very negative space and I didn't want to be a part of that anymore.

Anyway, ever since then, I've learned more and more, how to have a sunny outlook, how to use words of affirmation, how to use words to build up instead of tear down.  I think that the quality of encouragement is one that I have worked to build in myself and prayed for God to build in me. I'm by no means perfect, but I do try to encourage others.

Even though I still live with significant depression, I think that I have learned how to be a voice of encouragement for others.  I think part of that is having a gift of faith, believing that God is active and present and for us.  God has taught me to be a voice of encouragement for others and I'm grateful for that gift.