Skip to main content

I am Cheering for You

                When a child draws a picture, you say, “Wow! That is beautiful!” even when you have no idea what they drew.

                School plays are painful.  Most of the time the kids mumble into the microphone, or they forget their lines altogether.  Half of the performers are distracted and are not where they ought to be.  At the end, they sing some song really off-key.  What do you do?  You give them a standing ovation.

                I used to coach hockey.  No matter how many times we told them to spread out, seven-year-olds play hockey in a group.  When the puck is in the corner, so are all the players.  Half of them have fallen down and when one finally gets a chance to take a shot, she misses the puck and almost falls over too.  After the game, everyone talks as if that was the most exciting thing they had ever seen.

                We do these things for one reason: love cheers for people!

                That is until we become adults.  Then, for some reason, we stop cheering for one another and start competing.  We become jealous of what others have or what they get to do.  We act as if it somehow hurts me if you do well.

                The truth is, though, I have the same life whether you do well or not.  Life is not a pie.  I do not get less if you get more.   Your success or failure has very little to do with me, so why would I not cheer for you to do well?

                Paul cheers for the Colossian church when he writes, “We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, because we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love you have for all God’s people” (Colossians 1:3-4).  We are told that the angels in heaven cheer and celebrate when people are saved (Luke 15:10). The father in the story of the prodigal, or lost, son says, “We had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found” (Luke 15:32).

                God is cheering for you!  He wants the best for you.  He celebrates when you take a step in the right direction (John 3:16-17).

                We never outgrow the need for encouragement.

                Start cheering for one another! 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Art of Noticing.... Seeing what we need to see and what we miss when we don't

 What we focus on in life matters. Here are some scriptural reminders that will help us see correctly.  https://youtu.be/Rn76tV0ZH8s    
Post a Comment
Read more

New Article: A Path Worth Following

  Jehoram was a terrible king.  He reigned in Judah around the year 850 B.C. and he did not care about God or his people.  His first act as king was to assassinate his six brothers so that no one could challenge his authority.  He was brutal and selfish.   Therefore, when the Bible sums up his life, it says, “Jehoram… passed away, to no one’s regret, and was buried in the City of David” (2 Chronicles 21:20).  Did you catch that?  “To no one’s regret!”  What a terrible phrase for your tombstone. On the other hand, consider a lady named Tabitha.  She lived in the city of Joppa in the first century A.D. and we are told, “… she was always doing good and helping the poor” (Acts 9:36).  She became sick and died.  This caused the community so much grief that they called Peter, who was in the nearby town of Lydda, to come and help them.  When Peter arrived, a crowd gathered, bringing all the robes and other clothing that ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Consider This: Press The Button!

  Consider This:  Press the Button! My favourite TV game show is Jeopardy.  I used to like it even more when my kids were younger, because I could easily beat them and look smart.  These days, after they have grown up and gone to university, it is much more difficult.  However, Jeopardy is still the only game show I will watch. In a book I read, a contestant who did very well on the show shared the secret to his success.  He said (and I am paraphrasing here), “You must press the button before you know the answer.  Everyone on Jeopardy is smart. Everyone knows the answer. The key to winning is to act.  You must jump in and press the button, assuming that your brain will catch up and supply the answer.  If you wait until you are sure, you will be too late!” Press the button! Too often, we hesitate, not because we do not know what to do, but because we do not want to do it.  Sometimes, we fail to act because we are not sure how the situatio...
Post a Comment
Read more