Praising people can be a great affirmation of love

The heart of the Christianity is Jesus’ teaching on love. Throughout the gospel, Jesus is constantly emphasizing the necessity of loving God and loving our neighbor. In Luke’s gospel, Jesus affirmed the lawyer’s statement about what is most important in obtaining eternal life: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself.” (Luke 10:27)

In John’s gospel, Jesus gives his “new” commandment in very simple terms: “I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another.” We know that Jesus loved unconditionally. He gave himself up to death to show us how much he loved us. Then he goes on to say, “By this, everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” (John 13:34-35) Our lives should be living examples of love.

We could sum up Jesus’ teachings by saying that the essence of Christianity is building relationships between ourselves, God and our neighbors.

Two weeks ago, I quoted St. John Vianney’s profound statement on love. He said, “Love of our neighbor consists of three things: wanting the greater good of everyone, doing what good we can when we can, and bearing, excusing and hiding others’ faults.” One way we “can do what we can” is praising God and others.

Motivational speaker Brian Tracy once said, “In life you can never be too kind or too fair; everyone you meet is carrying a heavy load. When you go through your day expressing kindness and courtesy to all you meet, you leave behind a feeling of warmth and good cheer, and you help alleviate the burdens everyone is struggling with.”

Author Chris Widener tells us, “A key way to grow successful in our relationships is to be ‘life-giving’ people to others. Every person we meet, we either give life to or take life from. There are people who encourage you and when you are no longer with them you feel built up. Then there are others who you feel torn down by. Successful people are people who have mastered the art of building others up.

“One way we build people up is to praise them. There is power in praising people! Something begins to happen in them, in you and in your relationship when you praise someone. Remember a time when someone told you something about yourself in a praising manner? It was great, wasn’t it? You probably liked that person more after they praised you, didn’t you?

“Life is about relationships, family relationships, friends, and co-workers. When we begin to praise people for their positive aspects, our relationships grow. I truly believe it is our job to build others up and that they need it. It is a good thing, by itself, to invest in the lives of others by praising and encouraging them. Even if we never get anything in return, it is the right thing to do to build up other people.”

Then he gives some practical advice: “Is there someone you know who is joyful, hard-working, honest? Then let them know how much you appreciate that in them. You can do it with a word, a card or a phone call. Make it your goal to praise at least five people a day. If you can, praise 10 people a day. Or perhaps you can try to praise everyone you meet. It will take work, but it is possible. It just takes discipline and a little work.”

Tracy reminds us, “The only thing that you can never have too much of is love.”