The Ultimate Compliment

My sister Jonell quoted Mark Twain in a recent e-mail:

I can live two months on a good compliment.

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There’s remarkable power in genuine praise, isn’t there?  When someone we respect compliments us with real sincerity, we can run a long time on that affirmation.  It breathes energy into us, motivating us to keep doing excellent work, put out the effort, go the second mile.

I’ve been on the receiving end of sincere compliments of that sort and I’ll admit, they can turn lackluster days into pretty good ones!

Note to self:  Praise people in front of others, yes, but go one further. Compliment them face to face.  It might make the difference in somebody’s month… er-ummm couple months!

There’s one compliment I especially want to hear, however. I’ll only need to hear it once.  It’s the same compliment Jesus cited in his story about the servant with five talents who doubled them, and the guy with two talents who doubled his.

I consider myself  pretty much a two-talent kind of guy. So I want to hear those same words from my Savior at the end of my life and the beginning of eternity:

Well done, good and faithful servant.
Enter into the joy of your Lord.

I’ll live forever on that one!