You are wondering how to encourage someone, right? You may be asking yourself why you should even bother doing it if it’s not going to lead to them taking your advice or caring about trying to feel better. Even if you feel that way, we’re going to look at the top reasons you should encourage people – whether you want to or not!
Plus, we will cover some really smart ways you can encourage someone, along with some awesome, encouraging quotes, inspiring Bible verses, and other valuable resources that you can use so that you will know exactly what to say.
So, if you are trying to figure out how to get started, just buckle up, and let’s go right now for riveting tips and great answers to real questions!
Why Should You Encourage Someone?
Most of the time, when you encourage someone, you reap more benefits than the other person receives. It’s good for your health (emotional, mental, and physical). It can bring happiness, joy, and meaning to your life. Encouragement can also strengthen your relationships, especially friendships! So, if you want to know how do you encourage someone, let’s look at the many ways!
Why You Should Encourage Someone (The Benefits)
When you encourage another person, you are helping them. Believe it or not, helping people can actually give you quite a few benefits. In fact, the intrinsic rewards of helping others are numerous, so it’s definitely a worthwhile thing to do.
1. You are spreading the love.
When you help other people by encouraging them, you are keeping balance in the world and in your life. Think about the hope and motivation you are giving this person by giving them encouragement. You may never know how your help truly impacts them, but you could be changing their life forever.
Offering encouragement and help is contagious, too, so when you impact one person’s life, they may impact the life of another. You are thus impacting the entire world by just spreading a little bit of encouragement in someone’s direction! How easy is that?
2. You will get a feeling of satisfaction.
You may gain a new sense of purpose if you help your friend solve his or her problem. In fact, you may very possibly think, “Now, I can help other people!” This may lead you to have a new calling in life. Through our actions, thoughts, reactions, intuitions, instincts, and feelings, we gain a greater sense of our calling, according to Oprah.
Who doesn’t feel great after helping someone out? Doing good fulfills most people and deposits funds in their emotional piggy bank. Putting more good on the karma scale can help you out later in life, as well.
3. You will feel happier.
According to U.S. News, doing acts of kindness can actually increase the level of happiness you have in your life. Even just counting your blessings or keeping a gratitude journal on a regular basis can improve your happiness! It’s worth a shot, don’t you think?
There’s no doubt about it – helping people gives you the warm fuzzies (those butterflies in your tummy, the goosebumps on your arms, or the burst of warmth inside your chest)!
Aren’t we always looking for more ways to get those great feelings inside of us? We all want to feel happy as much as possible, right?
4. You know your life is meaningful.
Someone out there needs you; you matter to other people, and you are making a difference in this world because you love and care enough to show that love with all that you are.
Listening to another person’s problems can give you new opportunities as you have now gained a new ally in life. While that is usually an unforeseeable result of encouragement, it can be quite a blessing!
Another benefit to listening is you learn to see the world through another set of eyes, which may help you put things in perspective. You may begin to see the world differently and view your place in it in a completely different way.
Knowing your life is worthwhile must make you feel better about yourself – you matter a whole lot to at least the friend you are helping out! You are, after all, fulfilling a need in society! You’re making a difference in a real way and making a lifelong friend in the process!
5. You can improve your health.
Yes, helping people can improve your health. In fact, according to the National Institutes of Health, volunteers experience 40% less hypertension (high blood pressure) than those who do not volunteer!
Volunteering your time to help others can also boost your self-confidence, increase your self-esteem, and give you a sense of accomplishment. You may find that motivating others encourages you to be a more successful person.
Being around someone who is down is not always pleasant, but you are bringing good cheer with you, which may make you a more positive person in general. Positivity is contagious and can make you see the world differently.
One study, according to Scientific American, proved that they also had lower cortisol levels – which brings on stress and anxiety in your body. That’s a great reason to encourage someone – bring better health to yourself!
6. You are being a good friend.
Friendships aren’t the easiest things to form as adults. Making solid friendships and building them into lifelong relationships isn’t simple like it was when we were in grade school.
The truth is that if you want friends, you need to do your part in the relationship – listen and try to lift their spirits when they are down.
When you are feeling low, you want your friend to be there for you, just as you are for them. It may not be the best time, and you may not want to do it, but make the time and be there for your friend when he or she needs you!
Having a best friend is a blessing! Part of being a best friend is showing you care and love your friend by being there to encourage them!
How Do You Encourage Someone?
There are hundreds of ways you can encourage someone; usually, the best thing you can do is to be a good friend and listen closely when they share your problem with you. Here are a few more suggestions on ways you can encourage someone:
- Give them a gift.
- Understand their love language.
- Be there.
- Offer practical help.
- Make them laugh.
- Remind them of their blessings.
- Encourage them not to give up.
Let’s dive into these topics a little more closely, so you can learn exactly how to do these things for your friend or the person you are trying to encourage.
How to Encourage Someone
Some of the best ways to encourage people are listed here, but if you just use kind words, not annoying advice, you are in the step toward the right direction of encouraging the discouraged!
1. Give them a gift.
Maybe this is a traditional way to cheer someone up, but it isn’t something that a lot of people still do. If you’d like to give your friend a gift to make them happy, I think they would greatly appreciate it.
You don’t even have to spend a lot of money! Give them a homemade scarf or bake them a tasty treat like an apple pie or some chocolate chip cookies.
You could send flowers or a nice card if you think it’s appropriate for the occasion. I had a girlfriend once bring me some roses when I was going through a rough patch, and it was really sweet!
Plants are a pretty low-maintenance gift that your friend or person you are encouraging can enjoy for a long time after you’ve left their company. It’s like saying, “Here’s a sweet little something to cheer you up when I’m not around!” It’s a nice, touching thought.
Since you get more joy out of giving joy to others, you should put a good deal of thought into the happiness that you are able to give.
2. Understand their love language.
Giving gifts is one of the 5 love languages. The other 4 love languages are acts of service, quality time, physical touch, and words of affirmation.
If you know your friend or partner well, you should be able to discern what their love language is and act accordingly.
If your friend’s love language is words of affirmation, just be encouraging with what you say to him or her. If needed, go ahead and find some motivational quotes or something encouraging in the Bible. You can always write it down and memorize it before you meet to encourage your friend.
No one has ever become poor by giving.
3. Be there.
Remember that not all people want to be encouraged. Sometimes, they just need to vent, to let it all out, and to have someone who will just listen.
They aren’t always asking for your advice or opinion; rather, they just want to know that they are being heard by someone who cares.
Listening isn’t always the easiest thing to pull off, especially if you are a very impatient person. However, if you are having trouble paying attention, you can find a way to make the uninteresting interesting.
Listen with purpose; determine what the feelings are behind the words, and respond when the time is right.
I think the one lesson I have learned is that there is no substitute for paying attention.
4. Offer practical help.
You can offer practical help by doing the dishes, planting a flower, getting the mail, or picking up your friend’s kids from school (with his or her permission, of course).
Maybe you could just bring over a hot meal or help them move if they are in the midst of changing their life. Be helpful in some way, and put their best interests first.
No one is useless in this world who lightens the burdens of another.
5. Make them laugh.
I’m not the funniest person in the world, but I love watching comedies on television or movies that make me laugh.
You could really cheer someone up if you know the right ways to make them smile or laugh. Just learn what they think is funny, and amplify that when their mood is down.
One idea is to buy a funny card at a gift shop. Another thing you could do is send them a hilarious comic strip from the daily newspaper or magazine or send them a funny gif file on social media. Just find something that makes them laugh!
Nothing is so contagious as enthusiasm.
6. Remind them of their blessings.
Often when you are trying to encourage the discouraged, you need to just let them know of the things that have gone well in their lives.
Tell them about times you have seen them triumph, when you have seen them overcome big obstacles, and when you have seen their best side. Our successes need to be recognized.
My best successes came on the heels of failures.
7. Encourage them not to give up.
If you have a friend who is very discouraged and wants to give up, you should remind them that the best things in life often come after facing adversity.
You could let them know that although things seem hopeless right now, soon, this will pass, and the world will look different.
It is impossible to fail if you learn from your mistakes; don’t give up!
How to Encourage Someone Quotes
We draw our strength from the very despair in which we have been forced to live. We shall endure.
To the world, you may be one person, but to one person, you may be the world.
The hard days are what make you stronger.
You’ve got to get up every morning with determination if you’re going to go to bed with satisfaction.
Sometimes when you’re in a dark place, you think you’ve been buried, but you’ve actually been planted.
There are far, far better things ahead than any we leave behind.
Good. Better. Best. Never let it rest. ‘Til your good is better, and your better is best.
When you get tired, learn to rest, not quit.
In the middle of every difficulty lies opportunity.
Courage is going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm.
By being yourself, you put something wonderful in the world that was not there before.
It always seems impossible until it’s done.
Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can.
Don’t quit yet; the worst moments are usually followed by the most beautiful silver linings. You have to stay strong, remember to keep your head up, and remain hopeful.
Encouraging Bible Verses
My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness.
Be strong and take heart, all you who hope in the Lord.
Each of us should please our neighbors for their good, to build them up.
Yet what we suffer now is nothing compared to the glory He will reveal to us later.
And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of His return is drawing near.
Now may the Lord of peace Himself give you His peace at all times and in every situation. The Lord be with you all.
Then Jesus said, ‘Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.’
I have told you all this so that you may have peace in Me. Here on earth, you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart because I have overcome the world.
Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Be strong and courageous; do not be frightened or dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.
Frequently Asked Questions
What do you say to encourage someone?
I believe in you and your ability to get through this tough time. In fact, I know you have been through much worse circumstances and succeeded, so let’s see what we can do to overcome this obstacle and get you back on track! I know success is in your future!
How do you encourage a friend?
You can just spend quality time with your friend. He or she may just want someone to talk to, a person they trust that they know will listen intently without interrupting to throw in an opinion or two. It really depends on the situation, though. Some people prefer gifts or acts of service.
How do you inspire love?
Be calm, kind, and sweet, and those around you will see genuine love in the making. They’ll know you care, and they will love you for your actions. Be inspirational in your actions, and you will encourage others to love you in the same way that you love them.
What are some positive words?
You can use motivational quotes to say positive words or encouraging Bible verses, as mentioned in my other article, How to Encourage Someone (What You Need to Know). You can also find motivational quotes in my free download, 35 Motivational Life Quotes.
How do you express words of encouragement?
The most important way you can express words of encouragement is with a sincere heart. You don’t want to console someone or try to comfort them in some way if you don’t mean it; they might be able to tell your true intentions and wonder why you said anything at all.
Other Encouraging Resources
1. Prayer Resources
One thing not mentioned in the article that should be is the power of prayer. When you pray for someone, God works in magical ways that we do not always understand. Be sure to read my article on How to Pray for Beginners if you are just starting out with prayer.
While it’s great to pray for someone, it’s even more awesome if you pray with them when they need to hear your words to God. Check out my prayer journals for help getting started praying if you need some guidance.
Writing in a prayer journal can bless those you are praying for and yourself as you express your thoughts and emotions. Learn how to keep a prayer journal by using one of these tools:
2. Free Motivational Resources
Some people don’t need attention to cheer them up; rather, they just need some random acts of kindness – simple acts that deserve no attention or recognition.
These simple things may make them feel better, more secure about their situation, and just plain happier!
Check out my latest Free Random Acts of Kindness Calendar for more ideas on what you can do to encourage someone else today!
Another resource that I don’t want you to miss out on (that has been mentioned a couple of times) is my free download of 35 Motivational Life Quotes. This beautiful download has 35 fabulous quotes from some of the greatest leaders of our time!
3. Videos on Encouragement
This video made by Above Inspiration is a moving video with speech excerpts by some of today’s greatest leaders – Craig Groeschel, Joyce Meyer, Francis Chan, Kyle Idleman, and Charles Nieman. I was totally touched by this because I felt like it spoke to me. Be sure you check it out for a few minutes; it’s not very long, and it’s so worth it!
This video made by Alex Kalt’s Motivation is a powerful motivational speech by Denzel Washington. It has been said that if you watch it every single day, your life and mindset will change. If you need the inspiration or the courage to reach out to a friend, watch this video for some serious encouragement that could change your life forever!
Conclusion
You now have the great skills of knowing:
- Why You Should Encourage Someone (the Benefits of Encouraging Others)
- How to Encourage Someone (Top Fabulous Ways to Encourage Another Person)
- Inspiring Quotes to Help Someone Feel Better (Encouraging Quotes)
- Motivational Bible Verses on Encouragement (What God Has to Say)
- Answers to Frequently Asked Questions on the Subject of Encouragement
- Other Helpful Resources on Encouragement
Do you now have some better ideas on how to encourage someone? Do you know what you will say to your friend or person you are hoping to lift up? I am excited to share this message with you and hope you have found it valuable!
If you could, please share this article on social media, leave a comment, and check out my other resources or blog posts. I’d love it if you read more of my encouraging words and spread the news! THAT would encourage me!!
