March 31, 2025 • 23 mins
Have you ever wondered if your small contributions really make a difference? This powerful conversation explores how seemingly insignificant acts of service and kindness can create ripple effects that transform lives.
Josh and Mark dive deep into Scripture's consistent theme of God using small things for extraordinary purposes. From David's humble stone that defeated Goliath to Rahab's simple scarlet cord that saved her family, and from the widow's tiny offering that Jesus highlighted to the mustard seed of faith that moves mountains - we discover that God's economy of impact operates differently than our human calculations.
The hosts unpack practical ways anyone can make a meaningful difference through small acts: offering specific words of affirmation that might inspire future church leaders, sending a timely text that interrupts someone's downward spiral, genuinely listening when someone is hurting, or simply showing up during difficult times. These aren't just nice gestures - they're potentially life-altering interventions that God uses to accomplish His purposes.
What holds us back from these small acts? Often, we simply fail to recognize their potential impact. We don't see how God might multiply our modest offerings. The solution is straightforward: start looking for opportunities and take action when prompted. As Proverbs 3:27 reminds us, "Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due when it is in your power to do it."
Ready to put this wisdom into practice? The episode concludes with a five-day sprint challenge that anyone can complete: smile at someone new, send an encouraging note, compliment a stranger, donate something useful, and offer help with a task. These simple actions could be the catalyst for profound change in someone's life.
Join us in discovering how faithfulness in little things prepares us for greater Kingdom work. Subscribe, share with a friend, and remember - you were made for Good!
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:06):
Welcome to Made for Good, the podcast where we
explore how to live out ourpurpose and give works out of
our good control.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
Hey, I'm Josh and I'm Mark.
Today we're talking about thepower of little things, how
small acts of kindness andservice can have a lasting
impact.
Throughout scripture, we seethat God often uses the smallest
gestures to bring about greatoutcomes.
So, josh, let me ask you do youthink that these little things
(00:34):
can actually make a bigdifference?
Speaker 1 (00:35):
I do.
I think that what happens is weoften underestimate small
actions because they don't seemsignificant in the moment.
But because of God's power,even the smallest things can
change lives.
Things like I don't know, akind word, helping hands, even a
prayer, can have a rippleeffect far beyond what we can
even imagine.
Speaker 2 (00:54):
I agree.
I think that that's exactly it.
That's why Luke 16, 10 is suchan important verse for this
discussion.
This small things and thenlarger things.
He that is faithful in thatwhich is least is faithful also
in much.
He that is unjust in the leastis unjust also in much.
(01:15):
So what we're really saying ishow we act in these small things
.
Our attitude, our execution mayreflect how we would act in the
big things that God is callingus to do.
So being faithful in the smallthings in a way prepares us for
these greater opportunities.
Today, we'll look at how littleactions, done with the right
(01:39):
heart, can have a powerfulimpact.
Speaker 1 (01:42):
Which is a great transition right into our Bible
basis segment.
We'd like to talk about wherethe Bible's filled with these
examples of how God used smallthings for great purposes.
So what I would like to do is Iwould like to say something
that for some may seem small,but, mark, I want you to expand
upon it and talk about how itactually was great.
Like the first example, david,david took a small stone and he
(02:06):
defeated Goliath.
Speaker 2 (02:08):
Yeah.
So that small stone.
Not only did it lead that dayto the victory between Israel
and the Philistines, but itreally set David on a path to
being the king that God wantedhim to be for Israel.
And how was that?
David walked down into theValley of Elah with those five
(02:33):
smooth stones.
He only needed one.
Why?
How was he able to do it?
He trusted God.
So that small stone began aripple effect of winning the
battle, inspiring his otherfellow soldiers and ultimately
leading, putting him on a pathto being the king of Israel.
Speaker 1 (02:55):
Another example of something small that had a great
purpose is Rahab.
She put out a small scarletcord and what?
Speaker 2 (03:01):
happened, so that cord identified her, and when
the Israelites came in todestroy the city, they spared
her.
So she saved her life, and notonly hers, her entire family,
and so we don't have thesedetails in scripture.
But if you think about Rahab'slife after being conquered, she
(03:23):
now lived among God's people,and so we'd like to think that
maybe she began to serve theirGod, jehovah, the same God that
we serve.
Speaker 1 (03:34):
I know this seems like how could you say Jesus did
something small for a greatimpact, but what he said was
significant when he talked abouta small mustard seed.
What about that?
Speaker 2 (03:43):
Well, he said that small mustard seed he's talking
about our faith can actuallymove mountains in Matthew 17, 20
.
Speaker 1 (03:51):
And then we know, with the help of Aaron and
Joshua holding up Moses' hands,well, he led the Israelites to
victory.
And then we've talked aboutthis in I don't know if this
last episode or a coupleepisodes ago the widow she gave
100%.
What's significant about that?
Speaker 2 (04:06):
Well, you know I don't know when that when that
widow left her home to go to thetemple to make her contribution
or sacrifice, did she have inher mind that day that, you know
, my example is going to bewitnessed by our Lord and Savior
.
Not only just witnessed.
Witnessed by our Lord andSavior, not only just witnessed.
(04:28):
He's actually going to turnthat small event into a huge
learning opportunity, not justfor the disciples that were
there and present with Jesusthat day, but it's the 21st
century.
We're talking about that today.
Did she think that that littleact that she was going to do and
it was a little to her?
Maybe think that that littleact that she was going to do and
it was a little to her?
Maybe because it was 100%, asyou said.
(04:51):
But did she think that hercontribution that day was going
to lead to all these otherconversations and all this other
teaching about trust?
She trusted God.
She had to have trusted God inorder to give him 100% of what
she had.
To me, these examples show that, really, god doesn't measure
the impact the way we do.
His ways are not our ways.
(05:12):
Right.
He sees the faithfulness andthe trust, not the size of the
act or the size of the gift.
Even the smallest act ofobedience can really set the
stage for something much bigger.
Speaker 1 (05:28):
So what we're saying is small acts of kindness and
faith matter.
They're not wasted.
They're just seeds beingplanted for something greater,
absolutely.
Speaker 2 (05:37):
One of the most, one of the simplest and yet most
powerful ways to make adifference in someone's life,
and it doesn't cost a lot ofmoney.
It doesn't require a lot ofresearch or commitment or really
even skill, and that isencouragement.
We've talked about this before,particularly in the context of
(06:01):
Onesiphorus and Barnabas and howthey encouraged first century
Christians.
Romans 15, 1 and 2 tells usthis we who are strong have an
obligation to bear with thefailings of the weak and not to
please ourselves.
And here it is Let each of usplease our neighbor for his good
(06:21):
, to build him up.
So encouragement really doesn'trequire these special skills or
training.
The bottom line is, what we'resaying is everyone can be an
encourager and everyone shouldbe an encourager.
Speaker 1 (06:37):
That's right, and any small act of encouragement can
make a huge difference.
Some of the easy ways toencourage folks are maybe just
words about what you say,offering words of affirmation.
Speaker 2 (06:49):
So how would words of affirmation be turned into
something significant?
So we talked about an exampleearlier where if someone is a
young man is going to serve inthe worship service, maybe for
the first time, maybe they'rereading, they're doing the
(07:12):
scripture reading and afterthey're done, we can, we could
go up to them and say listen, Ireally appreciate, it was
obvious, you prepared, you hadread the verse.
I always think it's better togive specific affirmation rather
than general Say hey, good job,thumbs up, and there's nothing
wrong with that, of course.
(07:33):
But if you really want to makean impact, you could say things
like yeah, it was obvious to methat you you prepared and I
appreciate that.
You know you, you read throughthe, you know the scripture very
well.
You'd obviously read through ita few times before and it's
(07:54):
encouraging to me to see such ayoung person, you know, taking a
leadership role.
And what are we doing rightthere?
We're putting, we're planting aseed in that individual's mind
that they 16, 17, 18, 20 yearsold, whatever can be a leader in
(08:14):
the church in the future.
So you can take that smalllittle word of affirmation could
be the building blocks by whichthat person might become a
Bible class teacher, a songleader, maybe even a preacher,
or even an elder, a leader inthe congregation.
Speaker 1 (08:31):
You know, in helping out with your words don't just
have to happen face to face, itcan happen through text too.
Speaker 2 (08:38):
Oh, we're using technology here.
Speaker 1 (08:40):
Listen, I'm going to tell you this has been several
months ago.
I was having a crummy day, Iwas just really discouraged,
just feeling down and I got arandom text.
Actually, it wasn't random, itwas random to you.
It was random to me because Iwasn't, somebody was intentional
.
I wasn't expecting it, yeah,and I don't even think that they
knew that I was down.
They could have known, and yetthe text messages was super
(09:04):
encouraging and letting me knowthat they appreciate what.
Speaker 2 (09:06):
I do yeah, that's fantastic.
And what did it do?
What was the impact of the restof your day.
Speaker 1 (09:16):
Well, first of all, it flipped how I was feeling,
because I actually felt I wasjust thankful that I got that
text message.
So I went from being down tolike wow, god, thank you, and I
prayed for the guy that textedme.
Speaker 2 (09:24):
Okay.
So let's look at this.
This guy sends you a text,words of affirmation, words that
are meant to appreciate whatyou do in God's kingdom, and you
turn around I'm sure youthanked him, but you then pray
to God to thank God for whatjust happened.
(09:48):
Do you know, when you'rethanking God, in a way, you are
glorifying God.
We talked earlier about your.
Your financial contribution wasa way to glorify God because it
produced, in the recipient,thanksgiving to God, and so it's
really an interesting endeffect of something again very
(10:13):
small, that sending a text woundup causing glory to God because
of the thanksgiving that when Ibet you in his mind, he was
thankful to God.
Maybe he had prayed and giventhanks for you and maybe in that
process of thinking about yougo, you know what?
I need to send him a text and Ineed to tell him that I need to
(10:36):
, I need to take action.
So he, you know, he sent youthe text.
Then you turned around, thankedhim.
The bond between the two of youstronger there it's.
It's very intimate, one-on-oneconversation where you're really
appreciating your brother, andthen you turn around and you
pray to God and you give thanksto God for that.
(10:58):
In all of that glory was givento God, and I think that that is
a way that such a small thingcan have such a large impact in
the overall sense of things.
Exactly.
Speaker 1 (11:11):
That small text message caused someone who was
discouraged to be thankful, soit had an impact.
Yeah, another thing that we cando is just taking time to
listen.
There's been times where, I'mgoing to be honest, I was in a
hurry to get somewhere and maybethat I was trying to chase a
kid maybe one of the Hudson boysthat shouldn't be doing
something that they were doingand I see someone walking out
(11:33):
and their posture's a little bitdown and I just say, because
that's just what we say, hey,how are you doing?
And they give me I'm okay and Iknow they're not okay.
What I should do is stop whatI'm doing and make time to
listen.
Speaker 2 (11:47):
Yeah, and you never know how.
Walking out of that building,some people live by themselves.
Walking out of that building,Some people live by themselves.
They go home, they're down.
What you really did in thatprocess?
That might have led to more ofa spiral.
(12:08):
That might have led to a spiralto sin, a spiral to more
depression, away from people whoshould be caring about them.
You interrupted that process,stopping them, seeing them and
asking them how they're doing,and you didn't go.
You know when they said fine,you didn't like keep going.
You recognize that the bodylanguage, the tone, let you know
(12:33):
that there's something elsegoing on there.
And by hey, tell me about it.
And then just being quiet.
And if they will, if you've gota relationship with a person
where they know and can trustthat you care about them maybe
it's something that needs to beshared in confidentiality, I
don't know, but if they trustyou, they will, they'll open up
(12:56):
and I'm here.
Maybe it's, maybe that's notthe right time.
Look, I'll give you a call whenI get home and we can talk.
And by we can talk means I'lllisten while you talk, that's
right.
I want to hear where you are,what you're going through.
And again, you're interruptinga cycle and you could turn them.
(13:18):
You're changing the trajectoryof their not only their day, but
maybe their spiritual life aswell.
Speaker 1 (13:23):
It's an interesting concept to think, though, that
you can encourage someone justby listening.
Yeah, I had a conversation oncewith someone in Tennessee and I
walked away and I thought thatwas the best conversation.
I felt so much better.
You know what the other persondid.
Speaker 2 (13:38):
Nothing.
Speaker 1 (13:38):
Nothing, they just listened and I realized that
after the fact.
But there is, you can encouragesomeone by showing you care,
just by listening.
Speaker 2 (13:46):
And we're communicating.
When we look at someone andwe're looking them in the eye,
we're nodding, where maybe we'resmiling or maybe we're
reflecting the concern that theyhave.
That's what's going on.
So there's communication notmaybe nonverbal, but there's
communication going there, and Ithink that that can be very
effective and very powerful.
Speaker 1 (14:07):
Another small thing that you could do to encourage
someone that can really make ahuge difference is showing up
for them in difficult times.
This can happen in a number ofways and, just to give a
personal example, a handful ofmonths ago my grandfather passed
away.
This was in another state.
I was one of the men who didthe eulogy.
(14:28):
That was, as you can imagine, avery heavy day for me and my
family.
And then we live in Alabama andso obviously Alabama, georgia,
two different states.
It was a little bit of a driveapproximately 19-ish people I
say approximately, it was 19people that showed up to the
funeral and they may havethought you included.
(14:51):
You may have thought well, Ijust got to be there for Josh
and for me it meant a lot, likeit really encouraged me on a day
where I was just down and sadthat I had people that cared and
loved me that showed up.
Speaker 2 (15:06):
Well, what we saw as one of those 19 people, we saw a
family that loved each otherand loved the Lord, and the
impact that we went away with isyou know what a way to
celebrate a life and obedienceto God, and you know where that
(15:29):
person is spending eternity withthe Lord.
And so the small thing maybefor us to get in the car and
drive there to the funeralyou're saying had a really big
impact on you.
I think it had a really bigimpact on those 19 people as
well.
Speaker 1 (15:46):
It is interesting, when you have the moment, a time
where you're going tocapitalize it, you're going to
try to encourage someone.
How, like you just said, howyou got encouraged.
So many times I've thought Ineed to go say something to that
person.
I know that they're down.
And then I walk away, and thenI'm the one who feels better.
Speaker 2 (16:01):
It's weird how that happens, right.
Speaker 1 (16:02):
Yeah, exactly.
Another thing that you can dothat seems small but could make
a huge difference is and this issimilar to something we said
before it's just expressingappreciation for someone's
efforts, like you talked aboutsomeone doing prayer.
The only thing I would add onto that is, when you see it and
you feel it, go do it.
Because a lot of times you'llthink, well, I'll just write a
(16:23):
card to someone or you know what, I'll say something to someone,
and then you get busy andyou're talking to other people
and then you leave and you'relike, well, it would be weird
for me to say something nowbecause the moment has passed.
So when you, when you see anopportunity to encourage someone
, when we think back to theepisode, we're talking about
Jesus.
When Jesus felt compassion, itled to action.
We feel that emotion too.
So when you, when you see it,go do it.
Speaker 2 (16:45):
Yeah.
So a note or a text or justsaying I appreciate you, just
taking that time to say Iappreciate you, it can really
change someone's day or week ormonth, or even the trajectory of
their spiritual life.
And that's God taking the smallthing that that we're able to
(17:10):
do and using it for his purpose.
Speaker 1 (17:14):
The reality check segment is why don't we do more?
And it's probably because wedon't see how God's going to use
that little, small act to helpothers.
Speaker 2 (17:23):
Yeah, we can't see how God can use this small act
to actually bless someone elseand so, again, we think it
really doesn't matter.
And what we need to?
We need to not limit God'sPower in God's ability.
That small grain of mustardseed that we've talked about
(17:46):
earlier, we need to plant that.
We need to let God give theincrease Right.
We need to look for theopportunities that are out there
to do the small things,opportunities that are out there
to do the small things.
And when you look at it intotality of our life, maybe
(18:08):
we'll be like Dorcas, where shewas full of good works and acts
of charity.
The truth is that these smallthings do matter.
Proverbs 3.
27,.
I think we've talked about thisbefore in a previous episode.
Do not withhold good from thoseto whom it is due when it is in
your power to do it.
(18:29):
In this case, was it a goodthing?
I mean, was it a big thing?
It's well within our power.
Maybe it's not even a heavylift for us, but it can be very
impactful for someone else, butit can be very impactful for
someone else.
We need to recognize that thesesmall acts of kindness, whether
it's a kind word or an act ofservice.
(18:50):
They're valuable and we need tostart looking for ways to
incorporate these in our dailylives.
Speaker 1 (18:59):
Okay, it's time for your mission.
We've kind of slowly built upto this moment.
We've had six episodes.
Now we're on number seven andtoday we're going to share with
you that you got a five-daysprint.
So there is something for youto do, listener Monday, Tuesday,
Wednesday, Thursday and Friday,and we'll start with Monday.
What we want you to do onMonday is we want you to smile
(19:22):
and greet someone you don'tnormally speak to.
That doesn't seem like a bigthing to me, but it's a small
thing, right, we've been talkingabout small things and how they
have great impacts, right, okay, all right.
Tuesday, send a small gift orencouraging note to someone.
Speaker 2 (19:37):
Okay, so that could be a text.
You could jump on Amazon andfind a little $10 gift.
You can do a search for giftsunder $10 and just deliver it,
and you can have it deliveredanonymous.
That's right, again, if youknow their address.
Yeah, you could easily do that.
Again, I think this is a littlething.
(19:58):
I don't think this is big, butyou never know how it will be
received and what the conditionof the person's mind is when
they receive it Right Wednesdaycompliment a stranger or leave
an uplifting message, or likeput a post-it note on somebody's
car Like you did a horrible jobof parking.
Can you even see those parallel?
Speaker 1 (20:18):
lines.
No, that's not what we'retalking about Okay.
All right.
Speaker 2 (20:26):
Thursday donate something useful we've talked
about this before like clothes.
You're saying that's notuplifting.
It was, it was corrective, butit's not uplifting.
Should we say what a great jobof parking there you go okay uh,
so on thursday all right, sorry.
Speaker 1 (20:37):
Yeah, thursday, donate something useful like
clothes, books or supplies, andthen, lastly, on Friday, what we
want you to do is offer to helpsomeone with a task or an
errand.
What does that look like?
Speaker 2 (20:48):
So you know it could be somebody who is sick and
they're like hey, I know you'renot feeling well today.
I'm at the grocery store.
I'm headed to the grocery store.
Can I pick you up anything?
I'm already out Again.
I'm headed to the grocery store.
Can I pick you up anything?
I'm already out Again.
You're trying to show them thatagain.
This is a little thing for me,it's not a big deal.
I'm not imposing, you're notimposing on me to ask me to pick
(21:14):
up some milk and a loaf ofbread.
You know if it's going to snowor whatever the situation is
where it requires you to havemilk and bread.
But you can.
You can make it a small deal intheir, in their mind, uh, but
it will be very, very impactfulfor them as well.
So just, I'm already at thestore.
(21:34):
Can I bring you something?
Speaker 1 (21:36):
can I say this we we have talked about several times
that we taught this class andthere was someone in class that
was a part of it, a part of thisfive-day sprint We've done this
before and they sent somethingon Amazon.
Later on that week they gothome from work and they walked
(21:58):
to their front door and they hada box from Amazon and they
thought that I sent it to myself.
That's exactly what theythought.
And then they opened it up andthey realized that someone sent
something to them.
Speaker 2 (22:10):
Wow, they were the recipient.
Speaker 1 (22:11):
They were the recipient, they were the giver
and the receiver.
And so they came and tearfullysaid someone sent something to
me, so we, and it was $10.
, it was $10.
So I think that we've tried toemphasize the point that small
things have great impacts and wesaw that live from class.
Speaker 2 (22:30):
That's fantastic.
So that's the five-day sprintchallenge.
We've got items to do Mondaythrough Friday small things.
If you didn't write them down,go to X or go to Instagram or go
to Facebook.
We'll post those this week soyou'll have them.
You can refer back to themMonday through Friday small
things, and you will never knowahead of time how you might
(22:53):
impact someone.
So that is the.
That's the episode.
That's episode seven.
If this conversation todayencouraged you, be sure to
subscribe so that you won't missthe next one.
Speaker 1 (23:06):
Well, we hope that you found this helpful.
Consider sharing it with afriend.
Until next time, remember thelittle things matter.
You were made for this.
Welcome to Made for Good, the podcast where we
explore how to live out ourpurpose and give works out of
our good control.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
Hey, I'm Josh and I'm Mark.
Today we're talking about thepower of little things, how
small acts of kindness andservice can have a lasting
impact.
Throughout scripture, we seethat God often uses the smallest
gestures to bring about greatoutcomes.
So, josh, let me ask you do youthink that these little things
(00:34):
can actually make a bigdifference?
Speaker 1 (00:35):
I do.
I think that what happens is weoften underestimate small
actions because they don't seemsignificant in the moment.
But because of God's power,even the smallest things can
change lives.
Things like I don't know, akind word, helping hands, even a
prayer, can have a rippleeffect far beyond what we can
even imagine.
Speaker 2 (00:54):
I agree.
I think that that's exactly it.
That's why Luke 16, 10 is suchan important verse for this
discussion.
This small things and thenlarger things.
He that is faithful in thatwhich is least is faithful also
in much.
He that is unjust in the leastis unjust also in much.
(01:15):
So what we're really saying ishow we act in these small things
.
Our attitude, our execution mayreflect how we would act in the
big things that God is callingus to do.
So being faithful in the smallthings in a way prepares us for
these greater opportunities.
Today, we'll look at how littleactions, done with the right
(01:39):
heart, can have a powerfulimpact.
Speaker 1 (01:42):
Which is a great transition right into our Bible
basis segment.
We'd like to talk about wherethe Bible's filled with these
examples of how God used smallthings for great purposes.
So what I would like to do is Iwould like to say something
that for some may seem small,but, mark, I want you to expand
upon it and talk about how itactually was great.
Like the first example, david,david took a small stone and he
(02:06):
defeated Goliath.
Speaker 2 (02:08):
Yeah.
So that small stone.
Not only did it lead that dayto the victory between Israel
and the Philistines, but itreally set David on a path to
being the king that God wantedhim to be for Israel.
And how was that?
David walked down into theValley of Elah with those five
(02:33):
smooth stones.
He only needed one.
Why?
How was he able to do it?
He trusted God.
So that small stone began aripple effect of winning the
battle, inspiring his otherfellow soldiers and ultimately
leading, putting him on a pathto being the king of Israel.
Speaker 1 (02:55):
Another example of something small that had a great
purpose is Rahab.
She put out a small scarletcord and what?
Speaker 2 (03:01):
happened, so that cord identified her, and when
the Israelites came in todestroy the city, they spared
her.
So she saved her life, and notonly hers, her entire family,
and so we don't have thesedetails in scripture.
But if you think about Rahab'slife after being conquered, she
(03:23):
now lived among God's people,and so we'd like to think that
maybe she began to serve theirGod, jehovah, the same God that
we serve.
Speaker 1 (03:34):
I know this seems like how could you say Jesus did
something small for a greatimpact, but what he said was
significant when he talked abouta small mustard seed.
What about that?
Speaker 2 (03:43):
Well, he said that small mustard seed he's talking
about our faith can actuallymove mountains in Matthew 17, 20
.
Speaker 1 (03:51):
And then we know, with the help of Aaron and
Joshua holding up Moses' hands,well, he led the Israelites to
victory.
And then we've talked aboutthis in I don't know if this
last episode or a coupleepisodes ago the widow she gave
100%.
What's significant about that?
Speaker 2 (04:06):
Well, you know I don't know when that when that
widow left her home to go to thetemple to make her contribution
or sacrifice, did she have inher mind that day that, you know
, my example is going to bewitnessed by our Lord and Savior
.
Not only just witnessed.
Witnessed by our Lord andSavior, not only just witnessed.
(04:28):
He's actually going to turnthat small event into a huge
learning opportunity, not justfor the disciples that were
there and present with Jesusthat day, but it's the 21st
century.
We're talking about that today.
Did she think that that littleact that she was going to do and
it was a little to her?
Maybe think that that littleact that she was going to do and
it was a little to her?
Maybe because it was 100%, asyou said.
(04:51):
But did she think that hercontribution that day was going
to lead to all these otherconversations and all this other
teaching about trust?
She trusted God.
She had to have trusted God inorder to give him 100% of what
she had.
To me, these examples show that, really, god doesn't measure
the impact the way we do.
His ways are not our ways.
(05:12):
Right.
He sees the faithfulness andthe trust, not the size of the
act or the size of the gift.
Even the smallest act ofobedience can really set the
stage for something much bigger.
Speaker 1 (05:28):
So what we're saying is small acts of kindness and
faith matter.
They're not wasted.
They're just seeds beingplanted for something greater,
absolutely.
Speaker 2 (05:37):
One of the most, one of the simplest and yet most
powerful ways to make adifference in someone's life,
and it doesn't cost a lot ofmoney.
It doesn't require a lot ofresearch or commitment or really
even skill, and that isencouragement.
We've talked about this before,particularly in the context of
(06:01):
Onesiphorus and Barnabas and howthey encouraged first century
Christians.
Romans 15, 1 and 2 tells usthis we who are strong have an
obligation to bear with thefailings of the weak and not to
please ourselves.
And here it is Let each of usplease our neighbor for his good
(06:21):
, to build him up.
So encouragement really doesn'trequire these special skills or
training.
The bottom line is, what we'resaying is everyone can be an
encourager and everyone shouldbe an encourager.
Speaker 1 (06:37):
That's right, and any small act of encouragement can
make a huge difference.
Some of the easy ways toencourage folks are maybe just
words about what you say,offering words of affirmation.
Speaker 2 (06:49):
So how would words of affirmation be turned into
something significant?
So we talked about an exampleearlier where if someone is a
young man is going to serve inthe worship service, maybe for
the first time, maybe they'rereading, they're doing the
(07:12):
scripture reading and afterthey're done, we can, we could
go up to them and say listen, Ireally appreciate, it was
obvious, you prepared, you hadread the verse.
I always think it's better togive specific affirmation rather
than general Say hey, good job,thumbs up, and there's nothing
wrong with that, of course.
(07:33):
But if you really want to makean impact, you could say things
like yeah, it was obvious to methat you you prepared and I
appreciate that.
You know you, you read throughthe, you know the scripture very
well.
You'd obviously read through ita few times before and it's
(07:54):
encouraging to me to see such ayoung person, you know, taking a
leadership role.
And what are we doing rightthere?
We're putting, we're planting aseed in that individual's mind
that they 16, 17, 18, 20 yearsold, whatever can be a leader in
(08:14):
the church in the future.
So you can take that smalllittle word of affirmation could
be the building blocks by whichthat person might become a
Bible class teacher, a songleader, maybe even a preacher,
or even an elder, a leader inthe congregation.
Speaker 1 (08:31):
You know, in helping out with your words don't just
have to happen face to face, itcan happen through text too.
Speaker 2 (08:38):
Oh, we're using technology here.
Speaker 1 (08:40):
Listen, I'm going to tell you this has been several
months ago.
I was having a crummy day, Iwas just really discouraged,
just feeling down and I got arandom text.
Actually, it wasn't random, itwas random to you.
It was random to me because Iwasn't, somebody was intentional
.
I wasn't expecting it, yeah,and I don't even think that they
knew that I was down.
They could have known, and yetthe text messages was super
(09:04):
encouraging and letting me knowthat they appreciate what.
Speaker 2 (09:06):
I do yeah, that's fantastic.
And what did it do?
What was the impact of the restof your day.
Speaker 1 (09:16):
Well, first of all, it flipped how I was feeling,
because I actually felt I wasjust thankful that I got that
text message.
So I went from being down tolike wow, god, thank you, and I
prayed for the guy that textedme.
Speaker 2 (09:24):
Okay.
So let's look at this.
This guy sends you a text,words of affirmation, words that
are meant to appreciate whatyou do in God's kingdom, and you
turn around I'm sure youthanked him, but you then pray
to God to thank God for whatjust happened.
(09:48):
Do you know, when you'rethanking God, in a way, you are
glorifying God.
We talked earlier about your.
Your financial contribution wasa way to glorify God because it
produced, in the recipient,thanksgiving to God, and so it's
really an interesting endeffect of something again very
(10:13):
small, that sending a text woundup causing glory to God because
of the thanksgiving that when Ibet you in his mind, he was
thankful to God.
Maybe he had prayed and giventhanks for you and maybe in that
process of thinking about yougo, you know what?
I need to send him a text and Ineed to tell him that I need to
(10:36):
, I need to take action.
So he, you know, he sent youthe text.
Then you turned around, thankedhim.
The bond between the two of youstronger there it's.
It's very intimate, one-on-oneconversation where you're really
appreciating your brother, andthen you turn around and you
pray to God and you give thanksto God for that.
(10:58):
In all of that glory was givento God, and I think that that is
a way that such a small thingcan have such a large impact in
the overall sense of things.
Exactly.
Speaker 1 (11:11):
That small text message caused someone who was
discouraged to be thankful, soit had an impact.
Yeah, another thing that we cando is just taking time to
listen.
There's been times where, I'mgoing to be honest, I was in a
hurry to get somewhere and maybethat I was trying to chase a
kid maybe one of the Hudson boysthat shouldn't be doing
something that they were doingand I see someone walking out
(11:33):
and their posture's a little bitdown and I just say, because
that's just what we say, hey,how are you doing?
And they give me I'm okay and Iknow they're not okay.
What I should do is stop whatI'm doing and make time to
listen.
Speaker 2 (11:47):
Yeah, and you never know how.
Walking out of that building,some people live by themselves.
Walking out of that building,Some people live by themselves.
They go home, they're down.
What you really did in thatprocess?
That might have led to more ofa spiral.
(12:08):
That might have led to a spiralto sin, a spiral to more
depression, away from people whoshould be caring about them.
You interrupted that process,stopping them, seeing them and
asking them how they're doing,and you didn't go.
You know when they said fine,you didn't like keep going.
You recognize that the bodylanguage, the tone, let you know
(12:33):
that there's something elsegoing on there.
And by hey, tell me about it.
And then just being quiet.
And if they will, if you've gota relationship with a person
where they know and can trustthat you care about them maybe
it's something that needs to beshared in confidentiality, I
don't know, but if they trustyou, they will, they'll open up
(12:56):
and I'm here.
Maybe it's, maybe that's notthe right time.
Look, I'll give you a call whenI get home and we can talk.
And by we can talk means I'lllisten while you talk, that's
right.
I want to hear where you are,what you're going through.
And again, you're interruptinga cycle and you could turn them.
(13:18):
You're changing the trajectoryof their not only their day, but
maybe their spiritual life aswell.
Speaker 1 (13:23):
It's an interesting concept to think, though, that
you can encourage someone justby listening.
Yeah, I had a conversation oncewith someone in Tennessee and I
walked away and I thought thatwas the best conversation.
I felt so much better.
You know what the other persondid.
Speaker 2 (13:38):
Nothing.
Speaker 1 (13:38):
Nothing, they just listened and I realized that
after the fact.
But there is, you can encouragesomeone by showing you care,
just by listening.
Speaker 2 (13:46):
And we're communicating.
When we look at someone andwe're looking them in the eye,
we're nodding, where maybe we'resmiling or maybe we're
reflecting the concern that theyhave.
That's what's going on.
So there's communication notmaybe nonverbal, but there's
communication going there, and Ithink that that can be very
effective and very powerful.
Speaker 1 (14:07):
Another small thing that you could do to encourage
someone that can really make ahuge difference is showing up
for them in difficult times.
This can happen in a number ofways and, just to give a
personal example, a handful ofmonths ago my grandfather passed
away.
This was in another state.
I was one of the men who didthe eulogy.
(14:28):
That was, as you can imagine, avery heavy day for me and my
family.
And then we live in Alabama andso obviously Alabama, georgia,
two different states.
It was a little bit of a driveapproximately 19-ish people I
say approximately, it was 19people that showed up to the
funeral and they may havethought you included.
(14:51):
You may have thought well, Ijust got to be there for Josh
and for me it meant a lot, likeit really encouraged me on a day
where I was just down and sadthat I had people that cared and
loved me that showed up.
Speaker 2 (15:06):
Well, what we saw as one of those 19 people, we saw a
family that loved each otherand loved the Lord, and the
impact that we went away with isyou know what a way to
celebrate a life and obedienceto God, and you know where that
(15:29):
person is spending eternity withthe Lord.
And so the small thing maybefor us to get in the car and
drive there to the funeralyou're saying had a really big
impact on you.
I think it had a really bigimpact on those 19 people as
well.
Speaker 1 (15:46):
It is interesting, when you have the moment, a time
where you're going tocapitalize it, you're going to
try to encourage someone.
How, like you just said, howyou got encouraged.
So many times I've thought Ineed to go say something to that
person.
I know that they're down.
And then I walk away, and thenI'm the one who feels better.
Speaker 2 (16:01):
It's weird how that happens, right.
Speaker 1 (16:02):
Yeah, exactly.
Another thing that you can dothat seems small but could make
a huge difference is and this issimilar to something we said
before it's just expressingappreciation for someone's
efforts, like you talked aboutsomeone doing prayer.
The only thing I would add onto that is, when you see it and
you feel it, go do it.
Because a lot of times you'llthink, well, I'll just write a
(16:23):
card to someone or you know what, I'll say something to someone,
and then you get busy andyou're talking to other people
and then you leave and you'relike, well, it would be weird
for me to say something nowbecause the moment has passed.
So when you, when you see anopportunity to encourage someone
, when we think back to theepisode, we're talking about
Jesus.
When Jesus felt compassion, itled to action.
We feel that emotion too.
So when you, when you see it,go do it.
Speaker 2 (16:45):
Yeah.
So a note or a text or justsaying I appreciate you, just
taking that time to say Iappreciate you, it can really
change someone's day or week ormonth, or even the trajectory of
their spiritual life.
And that's God taking the smallthing that that we're able to
(17:10):
do and using it for his purpose.
Speaker 1 (17:14):
The reality check segment is why don't we do more?
And it's probably because wedon't see how God's going to use
that little, small act to helpothers.
Speaker 2 (17:23):
Yeah, we can't see how God can use this small act
to actually bless someone elseand so, again, we think it
really doesn't matter.
And what we need to?
We need to not limit God'sPower in God's ability.
That small grain of mustardseed that we've talked about
(17:46):
earlier, we need to plant that.
We need to let God give theincrease Right.
We need to look for theopportunities that are out there
to do the small things,opportunities that are out there
to do the small things.
And when you look at it intotality of our life, maybe
(18:08):
we'll be like Dorcas, where shewas full of good works and acts
of charity.
The truth is that these smallthings do matter.
Proverbs 3.
27,.
I think we've talked about thisbefore in a previous episode.
Do not withhold good from thoseto whom it is due when it is in
your power to do it.
(18:29):
In this case, was it a goodthing?
I mean, was it a big thing?
It's well within our power.
Maybe it's not even a heavylift for us, but it can be very
impactful for someone else, butit can be very impactful for
someone else.
We need to recognize that thesesmall acts of kindness, whether
it's a kind word or an act ofservice.
(18:50):
They're valuable and we need tostart looking for ways to
incorporate these in our dailylives.
Speaker 1 (18:59):
Okay, it's time for your mission.
We've kind of slowly built upto this moment.
We've had six episodes.
Now we're on number seven andtoday we're going to share with
you that you got a five-daysprint.
So there is something for youto do, listener Monday, Tuesday,
Wednesday, Thursday and Friday,and we'll start with Monday.
What we want you to do onMonday is we want you to smile
(19:22):
and greet someone you don'tnormally speak to.
That doesn't seem like a bigthing to me, but it's a small
thing, right, we've been talkingabout small things and how they
have great impacts, right, okay, all right.
Tuesday, send a small gift orencouraging note to someone.
Speaker 2 (19:37):
Okay, so that could be a text.
You could jump on Amazon andfind a little $10 gift.
You can do a search for giftsunder $10 and just deliver it,
and you can have it deliveredanonymous.
That's right, again, if youknow their address.
Yeah, you could easily do that.
Again, I think this is a littlething.
(19:58):
I don't think this is big, butyou never know how it will be
received and what the conditionof the person's mind is when
they receive it Right Wednesdaycompliment a stranger or leave
an uplifting message, or likeput a post-it note on somebody's
car Like you did a horrible jobof parking.
Can you even see those parallel?
Speaker 1 (20:18):
lines.
No, that's not what we'retalking about Okay.
All right.
Speaker 2 (20:26):
Thursday donate something useful we've talked
about this before like clothes.
You're saying that's notuplifting.
It was, it was corrective, butit's not uplifting.
Should we say what a great jobof parking there you go okay uh,
so on thursday all right, sorry.
Speaker 1 (20:37):
Yeah, thursday, donate something useful like
clothes, books or supplies, andthen, lastly, on Friday, what we
want you to do is offer to helpsomeone with a task or an
errand.
What does that look like?
Speaker 2 (20:48):
So you know it could be somebody who is sick and
they're like hey, I know you'renot feeling well today.
I'm at the grocery store.
I'm headed to the grocery store.
Can I pick you up anything?
I'm already out Again.
I'm headed to the grocery store.
Can I pick you up anything?
I'm already out Again.
You're trying to show them thatagain.
This is a little thing for me,it's not a big deal.
I'm not imposing, you're notimposing on me to ask me to pick
(21:14):
up some milk and a loaf ofbread.
You know if it's going to snowor whatever the situation is
where it requires you to havemilk and bread.
But you can.
You can make it a small deal intheir, in their mind, uh, but
it will be very, very impactfulfor them as well.
So just, I'm already at thestore.
(21:34):
Can I bring you something?
Speaker 1 (21:36):
can I say this we we have talked about several times
that we taught this class andthere was someone in class that
was a part of it, a part of thisfive-day sprint We've done this
before and they sent somethingon Amazon.
Later on that week they gothome from work and they walked
(21:58):
to their front door and they hada box from Amazon and they
thought that I sent it to myself.
That's exactly what theythought.
And then they opened it up andthey realized that someone sent
something to them.
Speaker 2 (22:10):
Wow, they were the recipient.
Speaker 1 (22:11):
They were the recipient, they were the giver
and the receiver.
And so they came and tearfullysaid someone sent something to
me, so we, and it was $10.
, it was $10.
So I think that we've tried toemphasize the point that small
things have great impacts and wesaw that live from class.
Speaker 2 (22:30):
That's fantastic.
So that's the five-day sprintchallenge.
We've got items to do Mondaythrough Friday small things.
If you didn't write them down,go to X or go to Instagram or go
to Facebook.
We'll post those this week soyou'll have them.
You can refer back to themMonday through Friday small
things, and you will never knowahead of time how you might
(22:53):
impact someone.
So that is the.
That's the episode.
That's episode seven.
If this conversation todayencouraged you, be sure to
subscribe so that you won't missthe next one.
Speaker 1 (23:06):
Well, we hope that you found this helpful.
Consider sharing it with afriend.
Until next time, remember thelittle things matter.
You were made for this.
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