Think about what you do.
Chances are, someone told you you were good at it.
The reason you are a successful songwriter, worship leader, musician, pastor, or artist is because someone spoke to you. For a moment in time, they stepped outside of themselves and lit up your life.
Your words have more power than you realize.
Today I want to talk about something that is so massively important. Your words. The words you speak over others makes a massive difference.
Matter of fact, your influence depends on it.
My Story
I wouldn’t have started blogging if my friend hadn’t encouraged me to go for it.
I wouldn’t have continued blogging if another friend didn’t say it was making a difference.
I wouldn’t have started leading worship if people didn’t speak to my potential.
Matter of fact, I may not be following Jesus if someone didn’t speak a few words to me.
Every success in my life is because others chose to speak. For a moment in time, they stepped outside of themselves. Their words collided with my doubt and lifted me to see my potential.
Influence.
And you have that opportunity today.
Why Don’t We Speak Out?
But why don’t we do it more often? What keeps us from encouraging others?
Well, for one, we’re selfish. We are so set on our own success that we don’t leave time for others.
We’re also competitive. If we encourage someone else, that steals time away from our own self-promotion. Of course we don’t do this on purpose. It’s a part of our lives.
We’re in a race to the top.
Some of you feel like you don’t have anything to offer. You mistakenly believe that influence is a novelty for the especially talented – for those who have accomplished much and have earned the right to speak.
Not so. To be honest, many people who influenced me weren’t that skilled or accomplished. They simply chose to speak.
The Challenge
I have a challenge for you today. I want you to speak into someone’s life. I want you to declare a huge dream over someone. And really mean it.
We dream about changing the world. We see the need, we pray, we discuss – but are we taking any action?
This is a simple way to do just that. Every day, you can change the world through your words. It’s all about building a habit.
It’s entirely possible to be so wrapped up in your own success that you ignore those around you. That, in my opinion, is a wasted life.
At the end of the day, I want to be surrounded by unlikely people who reached incredible destiny. I want to not only dream big dreams for myself. I want to declare massive dreams over others.
Are you up for the challenge?
Question: Who is a person that influenced you through their words? What difference did it make in your life? You can leave a comment by clicking here.
Ummmm…..that is a really good post!!!! I will be sharing this!! Thanks for your words in this blog!
Thanks Lisa!
Wow! This is great! Thanks for sharing!
When you mentioned that you wouldn’t have started leading worship… Or even started following Jesus without encouragement, it makes it all more necessary to be a positive influence in people’s lives.
This is so good David. The right word of encouragement at the right time can be life changing. Once I was leading worship in Romania and a leader said to me, “you are comfortable in your own skin” – I hadn’t thought of that before, it was a – revelation.
We need to call out and prophesy the greatness in others. Thanks for writing such a consistently great blog!
“call out and prophesy the greatness in others” – I love that! SO true, my friend. Thanks.
The reason I sing on pitch and notice when I slide today is because when I was a teen soloist someone took the chance to let me know I was hitting just a smidge flat on some notes and took the time to explain how to aim my voice differently. This improved my ear and tone and I am very grateful, although at the time was shocked and a little dismayed that it was not sounding all wonderful. I would not have become confident without a lot of encouragement to follow the passion of music, or finding others with similar and complimentary abilities. To speak into ones life when they are able to receive it, it helps when it is something they value and understand and can appreciate. Need to watch how I interact with my own teens, I have to say it is not always the taking time for their future and development sort of stuff.