Spend your time and energy creating, not criticizing.

When you work out or you're doing anything active, it's more fun as a group. You may lose track of the time, and the next thing you know, you're working out for two hours because you're having fun.

We have a duty to encourage one another. Many a time a word of praise or thanks or appreciation or cheer has kept a man on his feet. Blessed is the man who speaks such a word.

All of us have far too much to do to waste our time and energies in criticism, faultfinding, or the abuse of others.

Social Networking should never replace face-to-face time.

Everyone is in need of encouragement at some time. Take the opportunity today to encourage (give courage to) the one who often encourages you.

Partners are meant to have a priestly role in each other's lives. They are meant to help each other access the highest parts within themselves.

There are people who manifest the potential for sparkle that we all share, and those who don't. Those who do are usually people who somewhere along the line, either from parents or lovers, were told verbally or nonverbally, "You're wonderful and beautiful." Love is to people what water is to plants.

It's often just enough to be with someone. I don't need to touch them. Not even talk. A feeling passes between you both. You're not alone.

Instead of complaining about the current state of affairs, we need to offer better alternatives. [...] we need to stop cursing the darkness and start lighting some candles!

Part of being a Christian is recognizing that sin deceives us, and we need other believers to help us see the things we cannot see about ourselves. Joining a church, I've often said, is like throwing paint on the invisible man. New sins become visible in the course of our discipling relationships.

Yet the Bible teaches that the local church is the natural environment for discipling. In fact, it teaches that the local church is itself the basic discipler of Christians. It does this through its weekly gatherings and its accountability structures (this chapter), as well as its elders and its members (next chapter). These in turn provide the context for the one-on-one discipling we have been considering so far.