For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus. Philippians 1:6

Last time we looked at 2 ways we can affirm the people around us. 1) listen to them. 2) Use positive words. There’s power of our words. And if we’re believers, that power is for good: If people make any effort, commend them on that. If they make any effort to being more responsible, more productive, whatever… when we see something good in their life, compliment it and that area will grow. What we compliment tends to grow.

We left one more way we affirm the people around us: 3) Pray for them. Paul writes, “You are helping us by praying for us” (2 Cor 1:11). Pray for them and see what happens. And tell them we’re praying for them. We can even ask them, “What do you want me to pray about?” When this is done in the right attitude (not holier than thou), even unbelievers may respond positively. Whenever we pray for someone else, we’re building a bridge on which we can minister to people.

And while you and I are praying, maybe we should take time to pray that God would enable each of us to be more affirming of the people around us. Because for many of us, it’s going to take a heart change to become affirmers. And the Holy Spirit is the one who Changes hearts.

Most of us want to be affirming, but don’t even know where to get started. Here are a few suggestions to jump-start our thoughts about how we can be affirming that I pulled off the internet:

1.      Take time to affirm someone you know who is doing something risky yet right.
2.      Next time a friend’s birthday reminder pops up on social media, instead of just writing “Happy Birthday”, add a few words of affirmation highlighting a Christ-like quality you see in that person.
3.      Positively compare someone you know to a Bible hero or point out an example of them constructively using their spiritual gift.
4.      Commend a parent you know or see. “What a beautiful family” goes a long way in a checkout line and can be a good conversation starter.
5.      Affirm people you know who solve problems without waiting to be asked, commending their initiative.
6.      Rather than sending a card written by someone who works for Hallmark, spend some time studying the phrasing in the cards in the card section, and then take time to deliberately compose your own card.
7.      Next time an error of yours is brought to your attention, not only own it, but affirm the person who brought it to you for their alertness in catching it.
8.      When someone passes along a good idea, or helps you change your mind about an issue, affirm their taking the time to set you straight.
9.      Affirm the flexibility you see in others when they readily adjust plans to accommodate a need.
10.     In conversation, ask people to tell you about the nicest compliments they ever received. See if you can learn from their experiences and implement ideas on your own.

As you might recognize at this point, most of these ideas could be reduced to two words: Notice and Verbalize. If we want to build the habit of affirming others, we’ll need to start noticing more things that can be affirmed in the other people, and then say what we’ve noticed.

After all, it is God that works in us to will and do his good pleasure (Phil 2:13). See the potential. Paul gives us the reason for this in today’s verse: “For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.” Believe it!