All kids need a character hero to instill character in them, speak character over them, and celebrate the character already within them.

Kids need heroes to help them press on, lift their spirit, and believe they can. And so do adults. As kids, we have great imagination and believe in superheroes. But as adults, we often need help imagining ourselves as a hero for others.

Encourager heroes

Sure, we need correction, but more often we need encouragement. As a recovering perfectionist, I’m learning to celebrate the good already in people, not just point out what they could do better. Why? Because more than educator heroes, we need encourager heroes – people with a repeated, predictable pattern of encouragement. We need serial encouragers like Joseph.

Joseph recruited Saul, a man in serious need of encouragement. Joseph, though, was better known by his nickname, Barnabas – Son of Encouragement. Imagine being such a serial encourager that people forget your name and call you “Son of Encouragement.” And because Barnabas changed Saul’s world, Saul became the Apostle Paul, who became a world-changer.

When picking their 26 A-to-Z Secret Sauce of character qualities, my kids chose Empowering and Endurance. Great qualities. But I picked Encourager because I want to encourage them daily (Heb. 3:13), spur them on to love and good deeds (Heb. 10:24), and lead them to peace and edification (Rom. 14:19). Why? Because everyone needs encouragement – the celebration of character.

Encourager:  The celebration of character

Who stirs and spurs your soul? Who infuses your passions? Who emboldens you to overcome fear? It’s not a consultant with a framework for life or a celebrity with tips on living life. It’s the encourager who fills your heart with hope.

Some people have the spiritual gift of encouragement. But even if it’s not a gift you’ve received, it’s a gift you can give. It’s a choice. Instead of fixating on your spiritual gifts, encourage people to fulfill theirs. Encouragement isn’t my spiritual gift either, but I hope that people think it is.

Like the great cloud of witnesses in Hebrews 11, we’re also surrounded by a great cloud of encouragers. These serial encouragers can be both tender and tough, as well as reproving and reinforcing. They affirm, validate, and inspire. They help us focus on what truly matters without insisting on what it must be. That’s who Nathan Jones was for me.

A shameless encourager one moment and a bold challenger the next, Nathan saw something in me and he was determined to stir it up. One day as I shared my heart, Nathan slowly tilted back his chair, nodded in subtle approval, and bellowed, “The student has become the teacher.” I’ll never forget his joy in seeing how his mentoring had meshed into a unique character all my own.

Encouraging and challenging are two sides of a character-building coin that build trust, raise confidence, and lower barriers. They together earn the right to peek behind people’s veil without invading their space. They help us become resolute by repairing, fortifying, and infusing courage.

But this happens when we look intently for the good already within people and celebrate it. Brick by brick. Word by word. Deed by deed. Then again, the New Testament word for encourage is an architectural term for building up, edifying, and promoting someone’s growth. Encouragers don’t plug holes in a leaky dike of character; they build dams of character that slowly irrigate without flooding people with too much at one time.

Encouragers help us see what we need, without telling us how to feel. They don’t put down or speak over. They build us up by stirring up the character within us all. They bear up, buck up, and cheer up. And they point us up to the Savior who God raised up from the dead so that we too can be raised up with Him in glory.

Let’s rise up. Let’s stir up. Let’s live up to our God-given potential. And let’s encourage our family to do the same. That’s being an encouraging character hero now that God will celebrate in heaven.

What’s your “E” character quality?

Your “E” character qualities might include: Eager, Earnest, Educated, Effective, Elevate, Embolden, Empathy, Empowering, Encourage, Endurance, Engage, Enhance, Enliven, Enthusiastic, Ethics, or something else. Click here for a Free Printable Workbook with instructions and 300 sample A-to-Z character qualities.

Questions: Do you tend to correct what’s not yet in your kids, or celebrate the character already there? What “E” quality do you want for your family, and why?