Every sermon typically stands on it's own pretty well in various forms: the live sermon, the printed word, and the recorded version. This service seems to have been strongest in the live setting on Saturday due to the very evident emotionalism of Joel Osteen's message.

At the outset of the message, Joel talked about how his wife, Victoria, continually built up Joel through praise. But by the time Joel got to talking about how the congregation at Lakewood built him up as he took over the pulpit, there were a handful of breakdowns on Joel's part. If the strength of the message was lost on anyone, I fear for what that says about them.

Joel relies once more upon 1 Corinthians 13:4-5 for the central theme of the message:

⁴Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.⁵It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.

Joel follows this up with the following:

I believe that God puts people in our lives on purpose so that we can help them succeed and be all that God's created them to be. Most people will not reach their full potential without somebody else believing in them. That means that you and I have an assignment. Everywhere we go, we should be encouraging people, building them up, challenging them to reach for new heights. When people are around us, they should leave better off than they were before. Not negative, critical, discouraged, defeated. No, challenged and inspired.

Joel goes on to challenge us all to carry that belief forth ... to build up others, improve the lives of others, etc... We can all probably relate to how the effect of another person believing in us has built us up over time. A lot of times, we probably imagine those figures in our lives as somewhat heroic, perhaps even near mythical proportions - a parent who could do no wrong, a teacher who was a model of perfection, a coach who you'd think never lost a game. My own case is a far cry from that. The instance I will likely carry with me for the rest of my life is a teacher that was possibly a year or two past his prime. In the semester after my time with Mr. Babbitt's Earth Science class, others would note how he would fall asleep during class, become lost in his lectures, and so on. But that's not the Mr. Babbitt I recall. I recall the Mr. Babbitt who had a drifting 8th grader in his class, who really didn't have a great interest in Earth Science. From time to time and for reasons I'm glad that are lost upon me, I'd not bothered to do much of the assigned work. I recall a few failed tests that were clearly not the result of inability to learn, but rather the unwillingness to bother to study. After one particularly bad quiz result (I had gotten 25% of the test correct), Mr. Babbitt simply handed the quiz back after grading and said quite simply: "I know you can do better than this, try again." That wasn't standard practice, obviously. And why Mr. Babbitt would see me as worth a second chance on such a test, I don't know. He'd pass away a few years later, and before I'd ever think to thank him for his own simple act of faith. But he did. The material wasn't difficult. I just hadn't studied the night before. On my second attempt, I did a far cry better. And for the remainder of the course, I realized an ability that I never thought I had - the ability to learn. That helped me immensely throughout the rest of my time in school. I was blessed with friends who constantly tried to build up one another in our school work. When one of us got an A, we'd have a friendly competition to see who could get an A+ afterwards. None of us wanted to the one to come in last. We all had our strengths in schoolwork, of course. It was a great coincidence that found me in that situation, but it might never have happened if it weren't for a teacher challenging me to do better. The year after that, I'd finally see some of the benefits of that faith. An English teacher recommended me for the Honors English course as me and my friends made the move to High School. I'd have several teachers, many good, some great, and some not. But the ones who bring out the best in their students are the ones remembered the longest.

That recollection has always weighed on me since I knew I never took the chance to thank Mr. Babbitt. And Joel's challenge to us towards the close of the sermon puts the challenge to us all to be more proactive on that very count:

She may know it. He may know it. But they need to hear it again and again and again. Every day we should compliment each other. I heard somebody say, "complimenting each other is like the glue that hold relationships together." There are so many things today trying to pull us apart. It's amazing what a little kind word here and there can do. ... Be free with your compliments. Remember, your thoughts don't bless anybody. You can think good thoughts about somebody all day long, but they're not doing them a bit of good. You've got to verbalize them. You've got to write it down. You've got to speak it out. Everyday, we should find somebody we can compliment, find somebody that we can build up.

Sounds simple. But how often do we take the opportunity? How quick do the compliments come ... especially after a tough day of work? ... especially after we've had something negative happen toward us? Difficult or not, it's a challenge that I accept.