What if we always saw the good in everybody?
What if when we thought of others, we only remembered the good things?
I used to always make New Year Resolutions. They were just like everyone else's.
Keep a Tidy House.
Eat Healthy.
Exercise More.
Find Balance.
And just like everyone else's they were cast to the back of my mind by mid-February.
I didn't make any resolutions this year.
But I am embarking on a new project for 2016 that I am super-duper excited about!
I call it Philippians 4:8; The Art of Compliments Project.
A few months back, I began studying the book of Philippians.
My goal was to read the entire book every day for a month.
This really helped see the cohesiveness of Paul's writing.
I noticed in chapter 1, Paul writes, "I thank my God in all my remembrance of you." (1:3, ESV)
Then, in chapter 4 is the verse a lot of us are familiar with,
"Whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things." (4:8, ESV)
As I read these two verses together, I thought, 'What if Paul was talking about people in 4:8?'
I began a little experiment of my own, assigning these traits to the people I love.
I found with these 8 attributes, there was always something that fit, with each person I thought of.
So cool!!
Then something happened to me several weeks ago.
My first interaction with a lovely lady from church was her approaching me to tell me she thought I was beautiful.
Say what?!
I don't think ANYONE has ever told me that!
How nice!
It's really what every woman wants to hear.
My initial reaction was the beauty she sees in me is not so much me, but Christ in me.
But she didn't know about my tumultuous past with body image issues.
She didn't know that I was noticing that somehow an extra 10 pounds had slowly crept up, all of a sudden!
When I wanted to berate myself when my pants wouldn't button, I remembered our conversation and it gave me just the right perspective to keep from treading down that dark path once again.
Seeing first hand how an honest, sincere compliment could save me, I knew it was time to pass it on.
Why is it we know the people in our lives are wonderful and worthy of our compliments, yet we keep it to ourselves?
So, 2016 is the initiation of Philippians 4:8, The Art of Compliments Project.
I hope to compliment at least 100 people in my life during the next year.
If you receive something from me in the upcoming year, know you are very much loved and the compliment is long overdue!!
I cannot WAIT to get started :)
