put your hand on someone's back

Proverbs 10:21 NLT

The words of the godly encourage many, but fools are destroyed by their lack of common sense.

A word that encourages, an act that lifts someone, a helping hand… all of those things may change someone’s life. Did you realize that?

One of the things that I have talked about for years is the power of putting your hand on someone’s back. It may be the encouragement they need to keep going, to go further, to not stop, to make a difficult decision, to do the right thing, to be kind, to know they aren’t alone, to try something new, to stop doing what is hurting them and others, to seek God, to live life…

You get the point. Or I hope you do.

Be the encouragement someone needs today. Put your hand on someone’s back. Help others be better and stronger by giving just a little bit of what you have been given.

This is one of the things that we have talked about ministry doing for those who are in difficult times. It might be the person struggling with recovery that needs a friend to give a word of encouragement. Often this is for the person who wants to quit or thinks what they are doing doesn’t matter.

I have seen people take another step or even take another breath because someone cared enough to put their hand on their back. It is a gesture that says I care or I am with you. It might be the one thing that helps another human know that God is with them.

Put your hand on someone’s back today. It might be proverbially speaking. Send a text. Make a call. Have a conversation. Even literal by just touching someone in a gentle and kind way.

What might it do for you? It might do a lot for them!

1 Thessalonians 3:8 NLT

for now we really live, if you stand firm in the Lord.

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