Sisterly Encouragement

Last December, my sister gave me a Christmas card with a message that I’ve copied below with her permission.

Dear Ben,
I love you. Thanks for being a great big brother. You encourage me in so many ways. Keep growing in Christ and focusing on Him.

Love,
Emily

I didn’t post this to tell you how nice my sister is (although it’s pretty easy to tell that she is really nice). Here’s the reason I decided to tell you about my Christmas card.
I’ve talked to my family and several friends over the last couple weeks about the lack of sincere young men in the world today. I’ve noticed that, through no planning of my own, I know quite a few more Godly young women than I do Godly young men. Now, I’m not saying this to discourage you. On the contrary, I want to say this to encourage you to do something about it. If you think that, as a young woman, there is nothing that you can do about this predicament, let me give you a friendly suggestion. After receiving this Christmas card I realized one of the most simple and powerful things you can do for the men of the world. You can do unimaginable good in advancing God’s army of Christian men just by encouraging the guys that are closest to you; like your brothers and father.
Let me tell you about what my sister’s encouragement means to me. I found a similar note from Emily on my pillow earlier last year. She gave me this note out of the blue, just to say that she loved and appreciated me. What she didn’t know was that she gave me this note at a time when I felt like a horrible specimen of Christian manhood. I thought I had lived that whole week as a self-absorbed jerk. Yet here she was, telling me what a great guy I was. She obviously saw much more in me than I thought was there.
I can’t think of very many things that could have motivated me as much as that did. My own sister, who has to live with me every day through my moods and behavior, saw something noble in me, even when I didn’t.
One of the best things that you can do for your dad or your brother is to encourage him to be 100% of the man that he can be. Even if he doesn’t show any appreciation for it, I can promise it will make an impression on him. And it doesn’t have to be the same way that Emily did it. You ladies are the creative ones. You can find your own way of saying it.
Of course, the same encouragement can apply to other brothers in Christ, but proceed with caution. It’s very easy to mask romantic themes under the guise of sisterly encouragement. The last thing you want is for your friendly encouragement to end in a broken heart. More on that later.
In All Purity, Ben

Hebrews 3:13 But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin's deceitfulness.