Moses is standing at the edge of the Jordan River about to give his last speech as a leader. He can see the Promised Land but will not cross the river to enter it. His heart is heavy for his disciple, Joshua, because he knows what his young pupil is about to face. God tells Moses to encourage Joshua as the new leader of the nation: “But command Joshua, and encourage him…”

I remember witnessing something like this my junior year in high school. I was the only junior starting on a basketball team with four seniors. We had just lost our regional basketball game and our season was over. Our forward had signed a full-ride scholarship to play at the University of Wisconsin for coach Bo Ryan. He looked at me and said in front of the entire team, “LaMorris, this is your team now and you are going to lead them further next year than we came this year.”

His words meant a lot to me -- he was the captain of our team and I looked up to him. In that moment, I felt like I could do anything.

Athlete, you have the same power of encouragement! Your words of encouragement can change the trajectory of someone’s life. God has deposited something inside of you that may be intended to bless someone else. Don’t rob others of an encouraging word that could have a lasting impact.