So often we want to be helpful and encouraging but aren’t sure how to do it. It’s very easy to feel small and unimportant in this big world. It’s easy to buy into the belief that the light you feel isn’t enough to highlight the good in the world. So I want to start posting about ways I try and be a blessing to someone. The smallest of things can have the biggest impact.
These are ways to share the Word, remind people that they are enough, that God loves them just as they are right now. It’s a way to simply be kind to another person, without expectation of having a favor returned. I’ll start posting these on Sundays, and I hope you’ll join me in spreading the word. Let’s remind each other of the good in the world so that we’ll be inspired to keep looking to God in these times when darkness seems to gain strength.
To start things off I’ll talk about one thing I like to do on Sundays. Before we leave for church I’m often checking email and social media, and I log on to Twitter and check out the #GoodSunday hashtag. Lots of things are included in this tag. Some people are spreading the good news of the gospel, others are complaining about Christians (like us being hypocrites and judgmental when we should be looking at our own lives), and others are sad and angry at life in general.
Some folks post random thoughts about #GoodSunday with thoughts on how they’re going to spend the day. There is a great variety with this hashtag, and one thing I like to do is look for the people that need encouragement. They are out there, folks. Dig through these tweets and see who needs a kind word.
Some things I’ve said or responded to include:
- Telling someone that regularly spreads a positive message thank you and keep on encouraging.
- Agreeing with someone spreading the gospel. (Yes! Amen!)
- Telling someone to just have a great day.
- Encourage someone who is feeling down.
- Apologize to someone who called Christians hypocrites. We can be, you know. And if you don’t know about God and all you hear is someone yelling at you or judging you, what would you think? I don’t shrink away from this or put blame on my Christian brother or sister. When it comes to our goodness and our faults, we are not our brother’s keeper, we are our brother.
It doesn’t matter if you’re following these folks or even who they are or what they represent. They are likely to be different from you, some with different political views, others with different values and many others with different views on faith. Be kind to everyone. Don’t spread hate. Don’t get defensive, but try to show the love that we are blessed with from Jesus.
It sounds so simple, right? But people use social media to argue and preach and fight. We don’t need to add darkness to our dark world. We need to be kind, loving, and understanding to a world that isn’t that way to us. This isn’t always an easy task, especially on social media where anyone can say anything they want. But you can be the person who simply tries to spread some light. You can be the one that makes someone’s day a little better, and the #GoodSunday hashtag is one way to do that. Give it a try.
