As ambassadors for Christ, consider how Jesus encouraged those around him. This can be an extremely powerful tool (ability?) for the Christian to use in interacting with other Christians and the unsaved.

Encouragement covers everything from giving a positive comment to someone, to spending quality time with people, to being constructive in helping someone. Encouragement often entails sacrificing of time, as when one opens their eyes to the needs of people around them, the awareness of people struggling through life can be a bit overwhelming. But again, we look to Jesus and the early church leaders, and how much they sacrificed to encourage. They traveled to various communities, wrote letters, spent time with people, and allowed God to shine through their lives - even, at times, to the point of death. Am I willing to sacrifice so much for Christ? Am I willing to nurture the gift of encouragement in my own life? Do I feel that I can spend quality time with people, or am I so self-centered that I'll choose to close myself off to the needs of people around me?