Three detectives were running. They weren’t running after anyone; they were running together. One of them was our son Dan. His two friends were taking part of their physical training test, and they had to run for 1 1/2 miles. It wasn’t easy for them to do, because they weren’t in the best shape. Dan was running with them to encourage them, because he had already passed his test. Dan says that it works best if someone runs beside you, because it’s a real encouragement.
We all need someone beside us to encourage us. We may not have to run a mile and a half, but all of us face plenty of struggles. We all need to have encouragement, praise, affirmation, and appreciation shown to us if we’re going to make it through this difficult life.
It hurts our connections with other people when we don’t receive enough positive input from them and when we don’t give it. It drives us apart, distancing us from each other. When there’s plenty of praise, affirmation, encouragement, and gratitude all around, any relationship is improved.

Quotes of Praise
Mark Twain wrote, “I can live for two months on a good compliment.”
Richard M. DeVos said, “Few things in the world are more powerful than a positive push. A smile. A word of optimism and hope. A ‘you can do it’ when things are tough.”
Ella Wheeler Wilcox said, “A pat on the back is only a few vertebrae removed from a kick in the pants, but it’s miles ahead in results.”
Will Rogers said, “Get someone else to blow your horn and the sound will carry twice as far.”
William James said, “The deepest principle of human nature is the craving to be appreciated.”
We all need an encouraging word, including all the people we come into contact with every day. We need to remember that Jesus said that the second greatest command — after that of loving God with all our hearts, souls, and minds — is to love the people God has put around us. One of the most effective ways to dispense love is to dispense praise.

The Praise of Paul
The apostle Paul was the major writer of the New Testament. He traveled all over preaching and teaching, and he was used by God to start a number of churches scattered all around the Mediterranean area. Because he could only be in one place at a time, and often wasn’t with the people he wanted to be with, he wrote letters. These letters make up much of our New Testament.
One of the churches Paul helped to found on his second missionary journey was in the city of Thessalonica. (You can read about Paul’s experience, and of his having to flee the city, in Acts 17:1-9.) Paul and his traveling companions went on to Berea, then to Athens, and then to the city of Corinth. In Corinth Paul wrote a letter to the Thessalonian Christians, probably in 51 AD, that’s what we know as 1 Thessalonians in our Bibles.
Since this was a letter, it shouldn’t surprise us that it contains many personal references to the Christians in Thessalonica. It’s interesting to note, during this message on the power of praise, how much Paul encouraged and praised the people he was writing to.
He wrote, “We always thank God for all of you, . . .” (1 Thessalonians 1:2) He referred to their “work produced by faith, your labor prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.” (1 Thessalonians 1:3) (It’s interesting that Paul mentioned the famous hope, faith, and love trio found in the famous love chapter of the Bible, 1 Corinthians 13.) He went on, “You became imitators of us and of the Lord; in spite of severe suffering, you welcomed the message with the joy given by the Holy Spirit. And so you became a model to all the believers in Macedonia and Achaia. The Lord’s message rang out from you not only in Macedonia and Achaia — your faith in God has become known everywhere. . . .” (1 Thessalonians 1:6-8) He added, “They tell how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God,” (1 Thessalonians 1:9). Paul was bragging about them, praising and affirming them.
I can imagine someone getting up before the gathered Christians in Thessalonica on a Sunday and reading the opening words of this letter. It must have made them feel really great to be praised and affirmed by Paul!
However, they weren’t the only recipients of praise from Paul. He wrote to the Corinthians, “I always thank God for you because of his grace given you in Christ Jesus.” (1 Corinthians 1:4) He was giving them an inside look at his prayer life: one of the things he had been praying about was thanksgiving for them. He did the same with the Christians at Colosse: “We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you.” (Colossians 1:3) Paul wrote to Philemon, who was a dear friend, “I always thank my God as I remember you in my prayers.” (Philemon 1:4)
The more you study Paul’s letters, the more you realize how important people were to him. You also see the ways he expressed his appreciation for people. He wasn’t hesitant about praising them, affirming them, and encouraging them. I believe that his letters include these expressions because they’re meant to be a reminder and model to us of the importance of praise.

Practical Application of Praise
There are virtually unlimited ways that we can apply the power of praise in our daily connections with people. Last week, if you recall, we left the worship service with a heightened awareness of the need to really listen to others because that’s part of what it means to lovingly connect with people. By doing that we also please the Lord we serve — and help other people a great deal, too. Today we’ll be leaving with a new, heightened awareness of one opportunity after another to praise someone and really make his day. Remember the old Clint Eastwood challenge to “Make my day”? We make someone’s day when we shoot them some praise — some high-caliber praise!
You’re going to be given a tool to do this as you leave here today. You’ll have the chance to pick up three or more thank-you notes (and envelopes) that you can send to people in our church. The assignment this week is to think of three people whom you appreciate or who have done something that you noticed — though maybe few other people did — and write them a note of thanks. Let’s have nearly a thousand thank-you notes go crisscrossing through the mail this week!
Let’s find other ways to express the power of praise, too. Let a friend know specifically of something you appreciate about him or her. Parents of children, do you find yourself expressing more words of criticism or more of praise? I know that kids need to be corrected, but they also need affirmation and praise.
Parents of adult children, even though your kids are grown they still need to hear praise from you: affirmation or perhaps gratitude for what they’ve helped you with. My mom told me over the phone just the other day, “You’re such a good pastor.” (OK, she’s my mom; she has to say that, I know. Still, it was good to hear!)
Adult children with parents, your parents need praise, too! Julie wrote an e-mail to Diann and me after we got back from our vacation with them. She said some nice things about us, and it was great to read them!
Husbands, tell your wives that you love them. Don’t be like the old codger whose wife complained that he never told her he loved her. He replied, “I told you years ago, and I’ll let you know if it changes.” That’s not good enough! Men, tell your wives specific ways in which you appreciate them.
Wives, one of the best ways to build up your husbands is to tell them that you’re proud of them or that you admire them. Wives love to hear “I love you” from their husbands, but husbands love to hear most of all the words “I admire you” or “I’m proud of you.”
We don’t have to look far to implement the principle of praising, affirming, and encouraging people. God has placed them all around us — very near at hand, in fact.
By the way, this is one reason why God invented churches. It’s why we should be serious about being part of a church family. Listen to the way the Bible puts it: “And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another — . . .” (Hebrews 10:24-25)
We don’t have to be an out-of-shape detective trying to finish his required run to need someone beside us. We all need that, and the people we come into contact with every day need it, too! Give them the blessing of praise, affirmation, encouragement, and gratitude. It’ll help the other person and it’ll help you, too, because blessings boomerang. This week let’s discover in a fresh way the power of praise!