Too much Encouragement with Scriptures

Yes, there is. Why? Because as we learn, it’s crucial to understand where the boundaries lie. Without proper guidance, we might miss out on learning essential behaviors needed for a successful and happy life.

The challenge lies in balancing encouraging messages with corrective ones. The first step is to grasp the difference between the impact of purely positive and negative messages.

We communicate through Conditional and Unconditional messages. Let’s assign 100 points to an Unconditional Positive message, such as “I love you.” A Conditional Positive message includes a “because” element, like “I love you because you always help me with the dishes.”

The issue arises with negative messages. An Unconditional Negative message isn’t just 100 points; it’s more like 1,000 points. A Conditional Negative message can range from 0 to 1,000 points, depending on its content. While this isn’t an exact science, you get the idea.

It’s important to understand that if you want to encourage someone to improve in a certain area, they need to feel good about the need for change. Each message either adds to or detracts from their overall sense of self-worth.

This means your communication should leave the person with a positive emotional uplift and a perceived personal benefit from the change. As shown in the table below, we must deliver more encouraging messages to help someone make beneficial changes. Sometimes, this means avoiding any negative communication altogether.

Scriptural Insights:

• Encouragement: “Therefore, keep encouraging one another and building one another up, just as you are in fact doing.” (1 Thessalonians 5:11, NWT)
• Correction: “All Scripture is inspired of God and beneficial for teaching, for reproving, for setting things straight, for disciplining in righteousness.” (2 Timothy 3:16, NWT)
• Balancing Encouragement and Correction: “Let your words always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you will know how you should answer each person.” (Colossians 4:6, NWT)
• Positive Communication: “Pleasant sayings are a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and a healing to the bones.” (Proverbs 16:24, NWT)
• Constructive Feedback: “The rod and reproof impart wisdom, but a child left unrestrained brings shame on his mother.” (Proverbs 29:15, NWT)

Need help applying these principals.