accept, appreciate, affirm everybody…

so how do your treat people, especially in the church?

first of all accept everybody.  accept everybody.

then appreciate everybody.  appreciate everybody.

this goes a little bit further than acceptance.  philippians 2.3-5 (niv), do nothing from selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves.  each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also the interests of others.  accept everybody.  find something you can like, not just accept.  tell them so.

with some people this may require a little creativity.  you may have to look a little while.  maybe you just need to value them for their uniqueness.  like baskin robbins – 31 flavors.  what if the people in your church were all vanilla?  what a boring church that would be!  GOD has 31 flavors of personality and more than that.

affirm everybody.  affirm everybody.

one of the things that i really miss about my dad who is now in heaven is the fact that he was my greatest cheerleader.  he believed in me, he encouraged me, he always was there to give me a lift.

can you imagine what it would be like if your church was full of cheerleaders?  everybody would be given a lift whenever possible.  1 thessalonians 5.11 (niv), encourage one another and build each other up.

when people stumble, don’t criticize, sympathize.  be an encourager, not a complainer, not a condemner, a critical person, a judger. 

you can encourage people just by smiling at them.  put yourself on a committee of one to greet each other with a smile.  you really don’t know what that will mean to someone who may really be having a tough time.  don’t just do it to those you know but also to those you don’t know.  let them know you care by a welcome handshake and a smile.

just a thought from the front porch…