Let us hold fast the confession of our hope
without wavering, for He who promised is faithful; and let us consider how to
stimulate one another to love and good deeds, not forsaking our own assembling
together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the
more as you see the day drawing near. Hebrews 10:23-25
While the joy of the Lord truly sustains and strengthens us, there are
times when we all need encouragement. This
world is hard, especially on Christians. Elijah, Jonah and Job were at times suicidal. Paul, Jeremiah, and Jesus Himself, all had to
deal with the sorrow of watching people destroy themselves, reject God, and
reject His truth. We all need
encouragement.
This look at Christian encouragement is intended to
strengthen you and give you hope and help you to become an encourager. It's not always easy to walk by faith in
difficult times. It's not always easy to
obey God as we know we should. It's not
always easy to live according to God’s will for our lives. Sometimes we need a help...a little motivation
to do what we know is right, to stand up for what we believe, and to spread His
Word throughout the whole world. We each
need to be encouraged.
Encouragement is awesome. It can actually change the course
of another person's day, week, or life. You
will find, if you think for a moment, that the people who influence you are the
people who believe in you most, who encouraged you. There are high spots in all of our lives and
most of them have come about through the encouragement of someone around us. I don't care how great, how famous or
successful a man or woman may be, each hungers for encouragement. Correction does much, but encouragement does
even more.
One of the most beautiful gifts in the world is the gift of
encouragement. When someone encourages you, that person helps you over a
threshold you might otherwise never have crossed on your own. Sometimes they merely remind us of our
personal gifts and strengths. In other
times they challenge us to step out of our comfort zone to go for our dream.
At the time of the writing of Hebrews, there was
life-threatening persecution. Our tendency during such trying times would be to
save our skin or “to each his own”. But,
the book of Hebrews commands us to encourage one another in the midst of
difficult times.
To encourage is to inspire
another with courage.
The word “encourage”
in this passage is in the present tense. It indicates a habit or a way of life. It is also in the active voice. It means we don’t wait for others to encourage
us but we take the initiative. Accepting
the responsibility to speak a word of encouragement causes us to look at people
and circumstances with a positive perspective.
Doing so will many times change our attitude as well as the attitude of
our brother or sister. Note that we are
to “encourage one another”. Encouragement breeds encouragement. As we accept the responsibility to share a
word of encouragement we ignite a fire of positive responses.
Look around and see if there is someone you can contact with
a word of encouragement. Doing so can
change not only their day, but yours as well.
Scripture to Claim:
And we urge you, brothers, admonish the idle, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with them all. 1 Thessalonians 5:14
And we urge you, brothers, admonish the idle, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with them all. 1 Thessalonians 5:14
