At a wedding reception a few weeks ago, I met a woman who was looking for
advice about the local churches. "I really want to find the right one," she
said, listing the ones she’d visited. I barely listened, desperately trying
to make a top-ten list of churches in the area. I ended up saying, "You’ll
know the right one when you find it," and then hurried off, quite
embarrassed that I couldn’t be of much help.

When I got home that evening, I sat down with a piece of paper and
asked myself some serious questions about how I could better help people
who asked for my advice. Can you solve their problems? No. Can you be as
insightful immediately as you might be if you had a long time to think
things through? No. What can you offer someone who is in need of a
listening ear? Three simple words came to mind: Listen, Encourage, Thank.
To make them easier to remember, I wrote down their first letters: L-E-T.

Several days later, a clerk at a photo shop started talking to me about
his problems with his teenage son. I called my littler acronym to mind: I
really listened. I told him that God loved him and cared about his problem.
Then I thanked him for sharing it with me. As he thanked me for helping
him, even though I hadn’t offered a word of advice, I discovered another
meaning for my acronym: Let the Holy Spirit work in my encounters with
others. I’ve found that when I do, He lets me become a better helper.

Lord, today help me to give out more encouragement than hasty advice.             -Karen Barber