Yesterday as I was teaching Sunday School one of the little kids said that the opposite of “Amen” was “No-Men”. I laughed as you really never know what is going to come out of the mouths of babes. Later as I was thinking about it, I thought he was actually right and indeed Amen is a word of encouragement and reinforcement and the other side of it would be being negative, so in a way, “Nomen” is not good. At work we are offered so many opportunities to reinforce things positively with an encouraging word, but we don’t pounce on those chances enough and more often than not someone else will jump in with the negative point of view before we have a chance to say something good, and then it is too late. Once the moment slips away it is hard to get it back and instead of placing an encouraging word we, by default and silence, will have maybe sent the opposite message of what we desired. Without even knowing it, we can become “no-men”. This is not what Paul tells us to do in Romans 15:2. He says instead, “We should please others. If we do what helps them, we will build them up in the Lord”. If we start today with a few of our own “amens” to the work and efforts of others then that pleasing will come back many folds over as will a draw from others who will want to be around us so that they can also feel the positive reinforcement. And whatever we do let’s not fall into the trap of being seen and known as the negative person in the room. No one likes or wants to follow “No-men”.

Reference: Romans 15:2 (New Living Testament)