4 Easy Encouragements and a Biblical Perspective About Them

 
There are a lot of popular sayings floating around—phrases that people reach for when they're searching for something encouraging to say.

I'm sure you know what I mean. Phrases like "you are loved," "you are unique," "you are powerful." "You can do anything." "You are strong." 

Those phrases tend to bug me. Part of me rebels against them: they're oversimplifications! That's not how life works! You can't just say the magic words to make everything better!

The thing is, they're not all wrong. But I think it's our responsibility as Christians—Christians who are told to "rightly handle the word of truth" (2 Timothy 2:15)—to be careful with our words. And part of caring about truth means looking beyond the surface-level meaning of our words, and seeking to understand, Biblically, what is true. 

So, here are four popular sayings, and the Biblical perspective about them! 

 

#1: You are perfect the way that you are. 

Okay, I really like the movie Encanto.

I've seen it seven times. I know all the words. I relate so hard to all (yes, all) of the characters, and I think it's just beautiful. 

But there's one line that the main character's mom says to her that makes me annoyed every single time: "You are perfect, just like this." 

That message is all over the internet. You are perfect the way that you are! Don't let anyone tell you otherwise!

I get it. It's encouraging. But it's just not true. 

We are not perfect. You are not perfect. I am learning every day just how far from perfection I am!  

Romans 3:23 says, "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." The more you live, the more you will find out just how true that is. 

We shouldn't ignore our sin. We shouldn't tell ourselves that our sin doesn't matter just so that we can feel good. 

But what if that negatively affects our mental health? What if our self-esteem gets damaged because of how badly we think of ourself? 

I understand the appeal of telling someone (or yourself) they're perfect. Often, we think we're the worst person ever, that we can't do anything right, or that we're worthless. (Which absolutely is not true.)

A proper understanding of our sinfulness should cause us pain. It should! We should grieve our sin. 

But that's not where we stay. A proper understanding of God's grace should turn that pain into joy. And the greater the pain, the greater the joy. 

So, no. You're not perfect. 

But God's grace is greater than your sin. 

 

#2: You can do this / You are strong.

This one has a hint of truth in it. Sometimes, we are stronger than we think we are—we just need to stand up and face whatever's coming. 

However. It's not exactly true either. 

I'm not strong. I'm weak, very weak. And if someone tells me I'm strong when I know I'm not, I'll ignore them—clearly they're making things up.

And I can't do everything, either. If someone tells me, "You can do this!" when I'm freaking out over a chemistry test that I haven't studied for, I won't believe them. I'll just roll my eyes and tell them, "No, I CAN'T."

We aren't strong! We are weak. We are so, so weak. 

But. Here's the good news. 

God is strong. And he knows that we're weak. And he tells us to rely on him. 

In 2 Corinthians 12:9, God tells Paul, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”

You aren't strong. But that's okay! God's grace will carry you. 

 

#3: You are loved. 

This one has more than a hint of truth to it. It's just straight-up true. 

Yes! You are loved. You are loved more than you can ever know, more than you can ever understand. More than words can express. 

Romans 8:38–39 says, "For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord."

That's... a lot. 

Literally nothing can separate us from God's love. Literally nothing in the world. 

Isn't that amazing? 

You are loved, friend, and nothing can separate you from that love. 

You don't need to rely on the love of people, because people are sinful and can change. You can rely on the love of God, and nothing can take that away.

 

#4: You are worth it. 

Yes. So, so, true. 

"Worth it" is a little vague, so let's make it more specific. What exactly are you worth? And where does your worth come from? 

Your worth comes from your Creator. God made you in his image, and it's not a light thing to be an imagebearer of the Lord. 

Every human has value. Every human is worth so, so much. Remember how much God loves you? That's how much you're worth. 

To God, you are worth dying for. 

John 3:16 says, "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life."

God loved the world. God loves the world. That includes you. 

In Luke 15, Jesus tells a parable of a shepherd who had 100 sheep. One of them had gotten lost, and the shepherd went after it, even though he had 99 others. 

A 1% loss in money isn't too bad, and it's certainly not worth risking your life to regain. But the shepherd went after the lost sheep anyway, and he found it, and he brought it home. 

You're that sheep. I'm that sheep. We turned aside and got lost on our own paths, but the Shepherd thought we were worth coming after. 

So yeah. You're worth it. And your worth comes from God, not yourself. 

 

These phrases are easy to say. They make us feel good, and sometimes, that's all we really want. 

But I hope that we're able to see the Biblical truth behind them. I hope that we don't perpetuate half-truths that ultimately do far more harm than good. 

Truth, real truth, is more healing than any well-meant lie. Affirmations only go so far. Why would we want to change the truth of God's redemption? 

I believe that Biblical truth, properly understood, is the most encouraging thing of all. 

So I'll say: You are not perfect, but God's grace is bigger than your sin. You are not strong, but God's power is made perfect in weakness. 

You are loved. You are worth dying for. 

And that's true.