My big brother used to pick on me. For Dee, no day was complete unless he had made mine miserable. He stole my allowance, he called me a sissy. But all his cruel antics were offset by one great act of grace on a summer day in the park. He picked me to play on his baseball team.
Everyone else was a middle-schooler. I was a third-grader. I went from the back of the pack to the front of line, all because he picked me. Dee didn’t pick me because I was good. He called my name for one reason only: he was my big brother. And on that day he decided to be a good big brother.
The New Testament has a word for such activity: encouragement.
“Therefore encourage one another and build each other up” (1 Thessalonians 5:11).
This is how happiness happens.
By Max Lucado
Used by permission
From: How Happiness Happens
To learn more about Max Lucado visit his website at:
https://maxlucado.com/about-max/
FURTHER READING
• I Like to be Encouraged
• More Than Helpful
• 19 Ways to Encourage Others
Learn more about knowing Jesus at: https://thoughtsaboutgod.com/four-laws/