Some of my buddies in school lettered in sports. Nowadays I want to earn a letter for my spiritual jacket—an “E” for Encouragement.

The New Testament tells us to build up one another, pray, carry each other’s burdens, help and encourage each other—a husband, wife, neighbor, someone sitting near you in church, or the teen chewing gum in the choir.

Being There
Encouraging others means “being there.” It means, “Count on me!” Job’s friends showed up. They came, sat, wept, felt Job’s pain, and stayed by his side.

Even when we don’t realize it, our presence may be holding someone else up. When you go to work, church, the gym, remember: The smile on your face, the concern in your voice, the grip of your hand, and the look in your eye—all these are gifts of encouragement to those God places before you.

Wise Words
We also encourage with our words. Paul said in Colossians 4:6: “Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer each one.”

Recently a young husband received a call from his doctor. The diagnosis: a brain aneurism. His pregnant wife, hearing the news, felt a sense of panic. But the man stayed calm. “Honey,” he said, “people die suddenly from brain aneurisms every day. They’ve found mine.” His soothing words brought perspective and encouragement to his wife, and together they overcame the crisis.

A National Institute Mental Health Report put it this way: “Many of our daily conversations are actually mutual counseling sessions whereby we exchange the reassurance and advice that help us deal with routine stresses.” Or as Proverbs 12:25 says, “Anxious hearts are very heavy but a word of encouragement does wonders!” (TLB). Think of your words as little missiles of encouragement, capable of counteracting the enemy’s work in another’s life.

Timely Notes
Sometimes we need to express those words on paper. The troops returning from Iraq have spoken of the strength they drew from little notes of encouragement from loved ones, church members, total strangers, boys and girls in school. Well, we’re all in a spiritual battle, and those cards and letters can make the difference.

E-mails work too, but handwritten cards convey an emotional weight often lost in electronic form. Last year’s best sellers included The Letters of Ronald Reagan in which the former president’s voluminous correspondence was published. Many of his letters were written in a small scribble, and many were notes of encouragement to friends and supporters, sometimes to total strangers.

Another recent best seller strikes the same tone: A Life in Letters: Ann Landers’ Letters to Her Only Child. “I knew I wanted to do a collection of my mother’s letters. She’d saved more than 600 letters from her mother.

Is anyone saving your letters?

Hugs and Prayers
We also dispense encouragement by touching others—touching the right people with the right motive in the right way, putting your arm around a brother or sister and giving a squeeze. Often Jesus touched those to whom He ministered. “Jesus put forth His hand and touched [the leper]... So He touched her hand and the fever left her... So Jesus had compassion and touched their eyes... And He touched his ear and healed him” (Luke 5:13, KJV; Matthew 8:15, 20:34; Luke 22:51).

Not all of us can letter in sports. In fact, none of us will enter heaven wearing those old sweaters that meant so much to us in school. But we can all letter in encouragement.

Is there a friend who needs to hear from you? Is there a pastor, church worker, or missionary who needs a boost? What about those kids of yours? Have you been a little rough on them recently? Why not catch them doing something right for a change?

As Isaiah commands:“Encourage the exhausted, and strengthen the feeble. Say to those with anxious heart, ‘Take courage, fear not. Behold, your God’” (Isaiah 35:3-4 NASV).

Carry an invisible “E” on the sweater of your soul, and brighten the corner where you are.

This article was excerpted from Turning Points, Dr. David Jeremiah’s devotional magazine. Call Turning Point at 1-800-947-1993 for your complimentary copy of Turning Points.