I Thessalonians
5:11 (NASB)
Therefore,
encourage one another, and build up one another…..
Hebrews 3:13 (NIV)
But encourage one
another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be
hardened by sin's deceitfulness.
Hebrews 10:24-25
(NLT)
Let us think of
ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works. And let us not neglect our meeting
together, as some people do, but encourage one another……..
Encouraging another
is one of the most important acts of love and humility that you can ever do in
your life. It is a rare human being who
does not like hearing or reading personal words of encouragement from another. Yet, why is it that so few people offer
encouragement to others and, as a result so few people feel encouraged? When was the last time someone spoke or wrote
to you words of encouragement? A better
question……..when was the last time you spoke or wrote words of encouragement to
someone else?
Encourage means to
inspire with confidence; to stimulate to action by assisting and supporting; to
make another feel special, to transmit trust, to challenge another to be the
best he or she can be. The Greek word for encourage means to help, to
comfort, to set free so that a person can move forward and realize his or her
potential. God has commanded His people through the
Scriptures to encourage one another.
It’s important enough to God that encouragement is mentioned 63 times in
Scripture.
Words
of encouragement should be intentional as Barnabas’ intentional encouragement
of Paul in the book of Acts (e.g. Acts 9:26-27). Words of encouragement should be timely and
on the mark (e.g. Proverbs 25:11). Words
of encouragement should never be withheld, yet, frankly, most of us choose to
withhold such words……why?
Encouraging
one another is a main reason why people attend church. A primary reason why people stop attending
church or are sporadic in church attendance is because they are not encouraged
in the experience. As an unbeliever and
a beginning Christian, it is not expected that you would go to church to
encourage others as much as you need encouragement yourself. However, as you mature as a Christian, with
hopefully maturity coming in part due to the encouragement from others, then
you should do more encouraging others than others encouraging you. Mutual encouragement is the biblical model
with the more mature Christians setting the example.
Who is a model of encouragement
in your life? I hope that everyone
reading this has at least one person in your life who is like Barnabas was to
Paul. I feel so fortunate because I can
list several models of encouragement in my life, people who consistently model the definition of
encouragement. Encouraging others is not
a natural human characteristic as it is to criticize and complain and condemn.
A great evidence of spiritual growth and maturity is the ability to
consistently to encourage others.
Where do you stand
as an encouraging person? Are you a model of encouragement in lives around
you? All it takes is to lessen the
self-centeredness in your life and take the time (and sometimes the energy) to
tell or write others those words of encouragement that they should hear and
often need to hear. They should not be
false or flattering words, but words that you mean and words well-deserving for
others to hear or read.
“A word of encouragement during a failure is worth more than an hour of
praise after success”—Unknown“
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