Video Transcript: Introduction and Finding a Positive Narrative About Others
Hi, I'm Henry Reyenga, president of Christian Leaders Ministries. And I want to welcome you to this mini course, nine ways to build others up. I don't know about you, but sometimes it's not easy to build someone up. A sort of bad day happens or someone pushes in triggers you in the wrong way. It reminds you of a negative experience you had when you were a child, or that you had last week. I remember in the second grade, my teacher went out of her way in a field to me, it seems to me to knock me down, Henry, you're never going to amount to anything. And I remember feeling so depressed. And that carried over for a few years, my early education, I just hated school, until an encouraging teacher walked into my life. In fourth grade, a encouraging teacher like Henry, you can do it. And I remember thinking that the dark days of schooling are over. Now I like it. And I looked through my life in the ministry, and I can see that a lot of people and maybe you know what I'm talking about, have had a lot of negative feedback, a lot of correction, but not correction to build you up. But correction just to knock you down. Maybe somebody was jealous of you growing up, maybe you were in the wrong crowd. Maybe you lived on the wrong street, or you lived in the wrong economic group. So you felt the pain of discouragement. And now you grasp because Jesus Christ has changed your life that you want to be an encourager. So in this mini course, we are going to talk about the topic of encouragement. Each time we're going to talk about one of nine topics. Let's first of all, look at encouragement itself. I Thessalonians 5:11, the apostle Paul says, Therefore encourage one another, and build each other up, just as in fact, you are doing. The apostle Paul was the model church planter, the apostle who proclaimed Jesus Christ everywhere on Earth. In those days, he was the guy who understood about raising up leaders and building a movement for Jesus Christ. And it's interesting that when he talks to the Thessalonians, as he's reproducing next generations of leaders, he says, excel at encouragement, encourage one another, build each other up. The Greek word there is that word that you lift others. To be an encourager to build somebody else up means that you yourself, need to know your position in the whole world of reality, and here's your position. Christ Jesus died on the cross, He rose again from the dead. He established a relationship with God the Father, and we hear in the book of Romans, Romans 8, that we cry, Abba, Father, we are connected. We are born into a new reality, we are changed. The reason we encourage one another is because we ourselves at our very core, have been encouraged by the gospel, born again to a new attitude. I have found over the years, that people who are beat down, who stay beat down who cannot find the peace and joy in God is very difficult. I found it's very difficult for them for you to encourage anybody else. In fact, a different mindset often occurs, the mindset of one upping one another. The mindset of you know, I'm not happy, why should you be happy? The mindset of keeping score, you know, if that person encourages me, I'll encourage them back. But a person, a minister, who has been ministered to
your sins completely paid for. You have a forgiveness, forgiveness ethic, a person who sees the world, you know, there's the old song See the Sunny Side of Life. Why is because your whole identity is different. So when you look at others, you have resources that come through the power of the Holy Spirit through a changed life. So with that, learn to excel at encouragement. And we're here to talk about the nine ways that you can build one another up, but foundational to all those ways is the art of encouragement. If you cannot figure out how to for real be an encourager. And maybe that starts with yourself. Maybe you are a self loather. Your self talk is that of knocking yourself down. Maybe somebody in your life knocks you down, maybe your parents, maybe a teacher. So it starts to ask the Lord right there, Lord, help me to excel in encouragement and know that I am your child. Because it's very difficult, impossible, to fake encouragement when you are a self loather. So before we talk about the nine ways to build one another up the foundation be encouragement, I like to have a prayer for you right now. And for me, that maybe we need some healing. Maybe we need to bring something to the Lord, let us pray. Oh, Lord, as we begin this mini course, on lifting others up, building others up. Lord, if there's something in us, a hurt from second grade, a failed marriage hurt a self loathing attitude. Lord, if there is something, a bitterness that holds us back, as we begin talking about excelling, at encouragement in various ways, and practical ways to build others up, we ask Lord, that you will come and heal our hearts. Help us now relieve the pain, relieve the bitterness. Help us feel help us realize, in our very will help us know the power of the gospel that has changed us. So we can become encouragers in Jesus name, Amen. So let's talk about how to excel at encouragement. And let's look first at this first topic. And that is to build others up. Find a positive narrative about others, no matter who you're talking to find a positive narrative. And when you're talking to others, have that positive narrative, in your very speech about others. Acts 9:27. I love this. But Barnabas took him. It's talking about Paul, the apostle Paul, and brought him to the apostles. He told them how Saul in that time he was named, Saul before he was changed his name change to the Apostle Paul. He told them how Saul on his journey had seen the Lord and that the Lord had spoken to him. And now in Damascus, he had preached fearlessly in the name of Jesus. I don't know if you see totally what's going on here. But every time I read this, I am encouraged. Here is a Jesus hater. A persecutor of the church. Someone that in every way should be feared, should be ran away from Saul as he was known before his name was changed to Paul was a serious threat to Christians. Anyway, Barnabas, the Son of Encouragement, as he's called, gets to know Him. And when it's time for him to meet others, he finds the narrative that is most appropriate to build up. Saul, who becomes Paul, who becomes Apostle Paul. Who writes the words that we started our mini course on about encouraging one another, as in fact you are doing is that that seed of that
passage goes back to Barnabas, who found a narrative and was able to be encouraged, encouraged and encouragement. So how do you find a narrative about somebody? Well, first of all, you look at your own narrative. Again, we talked earlier about if you have a self loathing narrative, it's hard to be narrating the positive and seeing the positive in others. So first of all, remember that your own self talk is crucial here. But as you are receiving the grace of God, and basking in the Gospel, when people are in your life, look for the positive narratives, look for what God is doing. Now, when I say this, somebody might say, Well, be careful, you know, you also must point out phonies, and false prophets. Yes, I understand that. But we're talking about people that are seeking to walk for the Lord here, we're talking about a general lifestyle, a general lifestyle toward those you don't know, you know, we hear in the Bible to be careful in how you act toward outsiders, making the most of every opportunity. So what you're doing is having just an attitude that you are going to look for the positive in people. So the first of the nine principles in this course, is find the positive narrative about others. So how do you do that? Well, you find the positive narrative, by actually getting to know them. You find the positive narrative, by spending some time with them, and asking questions and becoming a listener. The positive narrative, I find is easier to see than we think. So the first very important point in this course and we're going to end it here is to develop ways to find positive narratives and others. And when you do, it will change your life and it will change the lives of those around you. So as we begin this course, encouragement, as in fact you are doing and find the positive narratives in others. And when we come back in our next lesson, we're going to take this further in deeper, exploring the nine ways of building others up