I seldom listen to music when I’m in my car. A podcast is more my style. But on a recent errand-running day, I pulled out an old Oak Ridge Boys CD and slipped it into my car’s CD player. As I drove from stop to stop, I had a great time singing along to the old hits, but one in particular – “Everyday” – stayed in my head.

“Everyday” has a catchy tune, so it’s no surprise it was a hit when it was released back in the ’80s. But it was the song’s message that grabbed my attention on my errand day. The second stanza begins, “A kind word never goes unheard, but too often goes unsaid. On the tongues of the old and the young, it’s swallowed up in pride instead.” So true. Whether out of pride, apathy, or just plain self-absorption we too often neglect to say the kind, encouraging word that could make a difference in someone’s day.

When Paul enjoined the Thessalonians to “encourage one another and build each other up,” his message was meant for future Christians, too. “With all the trouble and sorrow in the world,” as the song goes on to say, no one escapes heartache and pain. And everyone of us can use a kind, encouraging word “everyday.”

As this new year begins, let’s challenge ourselves to follow Paul’s instruction and the song’s plea to “take a kind word into the street and share it with everybody [we] meet.” Instead of letting pride and apathy keep us silent, let’s make the effort to make someone’s day with kindness and encouragement. After all, to quote the song one more time, for Christians, “it seems like the least we can do.”