We all go through times where it seems there’s no one around to pat us on the back and tell us how wonderful we are and what a great job we’re doing. It’s during those times that we need to know how to encourage ourselves.
In 1 Samuel chapter 30th the Bible relays an incident where David was having a pretty bad day!
While he and his men were away, their enemies invaded the town they were living in, set it on fire, and took all their wives and kids captive.
There was no one around to encourage David. In fact, David’s men blamed him for what had happened and wanted to kill him!
David could have gotten depressed and let the situation defeat him, but he chose to do something else instead. The Bible says that “David encouraged himself in the Lord his God” (1 Samuel 30:6 KJV).
Parents, when your kids are having a bad day—maybe someone talked bad about them, or they didn’t make the basketball team—teach them how to encourage themselves. Teach them that the best way to encourage themselves is to quote scriptures: “Greater is He that’s in me” (1 John 4:4). “I can do all things through Christ” (Philippians 4:13).
The Take Away
Training your children to encourage and affirm themselves is a major key to living a happy, successful life. It will buoy them up to the top of any situation that tries to drag them down.
