But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called “Today,” so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness.
— Hebrews 3:13
Jean Nidetch was a 214-pound homemaker desperate to lose weight. So she went to the New York City Department of Health where she was given a diet devised by Dr. Norman Jolliffe. Two months later, discouraged about the 50-plus pounds she still needed to lose, she invited six overweight friends home to share the diet and talk about how to stay on it.
Today, more than one million members attend 25,000 Weight Watchers meetings in 24 countries every week. Why was Nidetch able to help people take control of their lives?
To answer that, she tells a story. When she was a teenager, she used to cross a park where she saw mothers gossiping while the toddlers sat on their swings, with no one to push them. “I’d give them a push,” says Nidetch. “And you know what happens when you push a kid on a swing? Pretty soon he’s pumping, doing it himself. That’s what my role in life is—I’m there to give others a push.”
Very often in the Christian life, others around us need a “push” as well. Whether it’s giving them comfort in hard times or spurring them on to becoming more Christ-like, it’s our job as Christians to lift up each other in every way. Lift up someone today, and when the day comes that you need a “push,” they’ll be there for you too!
Prayer Challenge
Pray and ask God to show you how you can better encourage others in your life.
Questions for Thought
How does it make you feel when people go out of their way to give you a word of encouragement?
What are the names of some people in your life today who you can encourage?