Read Proverbs 10:11, 13

When we say thank you to someone who completes a task, we are expressing our appreciation. But when we acknowledge and express our gratitude for what others are—in character, in motive, in heart—we are affirming them personally. 

A mark of maturity is the ability to affirm, not just appreciate.

How easy to see people (especially family members and fellow [employees]) as doers of tasks, but a task-oriented mentality is incomplete. As important as appreciation for a job well done may be, it too is incomplete. 

People aren't human tools appointed to accomplish a set of tasks, but human beings with souls, with feelings. 

How essential it is to recognize and affirm the unseen, hidden qualities that make an individual a person of worth and dignity.

Excerpted from Charles R. Swindoll, Wisdom for the Way (Nashville: J. Countryman, a division of Thomas Nelson, Inc., 2001). Copyright © 2001 by Charles R. Swindoll, Inc. All rights reserved. Used by permission.