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Psalm 139:13-14 NLT

'You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother’s womb. Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous – how well I know it.'

I am in awe of the scale, beauty and power revealed throughout creation. Yet, my greatest awe is as I consider the wonder that is me and that is you. God created us with all our complexity, something that is still so much of a mystery to science. No matter who we are, the so-called disabilities or abilities we each manifest, is wonderfully crafted.

It’s sad that the behaviour we see from some politicians, personalities and the media is often to diminish our shared humanity. We grow used to seeing this wonderful creation ridiculed and criticised. In such instances, a part of me wants to rise up in apparent righteous indignation to throw a dart of disapproval. But another part of me observes the fragility of our humanity; I doubt public pillory can ever offer the best way towards social advancement.

In a complex and competitive world, I wonder how things might turn out if we expressed more respect for our neighbours. Wired as I am to find fault and to disguise my own shame by pointing a finger of blame at another (just like Adam did), it has been a revelation and the fruit of self-discipline for me to move from frowning to smiling. I no longer look to find fault. I seek to give praise. Encouragement has the power to change a downbeat mood to upbeat, our context from grey to golden.

God works with me through encouragement. I find reasons why not to try something is easier than risk or to explore outside my comfort zone. God encourages me to have a go for I’m “fearfully and wonderfully made” (NIV), not for a ditch, but for life’s highway. Yes, there is disappointment along the way, and that’s where I need your encouragement.

QUESTION: Look for opportunities to be an encourager of others today.

PRAYER: Lord, help me be a culture-changer by encouraging and building up those around me.