Struggling and Thankfulness

My son struggles a bit with spelling, yet he is great in math and other subjects. Michael tends to focus on the things he doesn't do well. At a recent parent/teacher conference, his teacher told me about her strategy with Michael. She lets him know two things. First, she is struggling for him. She wants him to know that she's "on his team". Secondly, she reminds him of the things he does well, encouraging him to be thankful for those things. She knows that those two things will help him battle against false thinking that he's "not good at anything" (words that come out of his mouth).

In one way, her strategy aligns with the apostle Paul's strategy with the Colossians. Wanting them to stick to Truth, and avoid false teaching, he lets them know (in Colossians 2:1-7) that he's struggling for them and that they should abound in thanksgiving. That helps. I pray that we will constantly struggle for each other and remind each other of how much we have to be thankful for.