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, especially now that the
day of his return is drawing near.
These two verses describe true fellowship
in the church. The main purpose of
attending church is not to worship or hear a sermon, but to apply what
these two verses teach. Christians
meeting together involves mutual encouragement and stirring up of one
another. You should be saying things to
others that will help them be more loving and others say things to you to help
you be more loving. God desires for us
to face each other so that we can exhort and encourage one another to press on
with the challenges of our lives.
Think about interactions amongst others
after a worship service or at a life group meeting, or any other gathering of
Christian people. Think about your own
experiences during these interactions.
Do you think that there is mutual encouragement and admonition occurring
during these interactions? Are you
yourself doing any encouraging? Are you
yourself motivating others to acts of love and good works? Everyone wants to be motivated and
encouraged, yet hardly anyone actually makes it a point every time he/she
interacts with others to apply these verses.
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.
Note the phrase “let us think of
ways…….” You are not to take any kind of
Christian gathering lackadaisically. God
has given you a great mind to think creatively and unselfishly if you simply
ask Him to help you. The next time you
are assembling with other believers and, yes, non-believers, ask God to help
you think of ways that you can motivate and encourage others. It’s really not that hard. Simply asking others what the Lord is doing
in their lives or can you pray for a need they have or asking them to help you
with something or talking about something you learned this week from your daily
devotional…….these are examples of ways that you can motivate and encourage
others. No one should leave a meeting
with other Christians without more power, resources, motivation, and wisdom to
love and do good works. Otherwise, the
whole gathering is nothing more than a religious rite with no biblical reason
for being there. The visible glory of God is at stake.
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?
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. 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?
“A word of encouragement during a failure is worth more than an hour of
praise after success” — Unknown“
“There is nothing better than encouragement from a
good friend” — Katherine Hathway
