It has been said that a compliment can carry someone for an entire month. It probably depends on the nature of the compliment, who said it and what kind of month we’re having, but the right compliment at the right time often does carry someone for the next several days, if not weeks.
Would it surprise you to know that God already knew that? Maybe that’s why God said, “A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver” (Prov. 25:11). “A man has joy by the answer of his mouth, And a word spoken in due season, how good it is!” (Prov. 15:11). A compliment, given from a genuine heart with a compassionate spirit, can encourage and lift the soul of the recipient immeasurably. Thus, as Christians, we have been commanded by the Lord, “Encourage one another and build up one another” (1 Thess. 5:11); “Encourage the fainthearted” (1 Thess. 5:14); “Encourage one another day after day” (Heb. 3:13).
How are you doing at keeping your brethren out of the doldrums…today?