{"id":2401,"date":"2013-01-17T07:18:56","date_gmt":"2013-01-17T12:18:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/activistfaith\/?p=2401"},"modified":"2013-01-17T07:18:56","modified_gmt":"2013-01-17T12:18:56","slug":"the-power-of-encouragement-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/activistfaith\/2013\/01\/the-power-of-encouragement-2.html","title":{"rendered":"The Power of Encouragement"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"yodaimages.jpg\"Today is my birthday. While parties are not the same as when I was a kid (Though my kids have thrown me a Star Wars party in the past!), there is something special about the encouragement of birthday cards, calls, and even little “Happy Birthday!” notes on Facebook.<\/p>\n

Encouragement is powerful. As people of faith, we have the opportunity to use encouragement to change the world. But changing the world usually begins with the person in front of us. We can belittle, do little, or encourage a little. Or a lot. The choice is up to you and me to use our power for good. Or as the great theologian Yoda shares, “Do or do not; there is no try.”<\/p>\n

Don’t “try” to encourage someone today. Just do it. Be an encourager. Change a life. Change the world.<\/p>\n

+++
\n<\/em>
\nDILLON BURROUGHS is an author, activist, and co-founder of Activist Faith. Dillon served in Haiti following the epic 2010 earthquake and has
\ninvestigated modern slavery in the US and internationally. His books include Undefending Christianity, Not in My Town (with Charles J.
\nPowell), Thirst No More, and Hunger No More. Discover more at\u00a0DillonBurroughs.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Today is my birthday. While parties are not the same as when I was a kid (Though my kids have thrown me a Star Wars party in the past!), there is something special about the encouragement of birthday cards, calls, and even little “Happy Birthday!” notes on Facebook. Encouragement is powerful. As people of faith,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":230,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,7,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2401","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-activism","category-christianity","category-church-in-action"],"yoast_head":"\nThe Power of Encouragement - Activist Faith<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/activistfaith\/2013\/01\/the-power-of-encouragement-2.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Power of Encouragement - Activist Faith\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Today is my birthday. 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