We all need encouragement
“If your gift is to encourage others, do it!” (Rom. 12:8 NLT)
Hello Saints,
Is it not remarkable that God, in His wisdom, would ensure that His Son’s Bride, the Church would have the gift of encouragement in it. A Church that would experience hardship, persecution, difficulties and divisions from within, and trials from those outside who oppose the Lord and His mission, must be gifted by God with people who are able to encourage the saints to persevere under tribulation. God knows His people and has said in His word: “Worry weighs a person down; an encouraging word cheers a person up” (Prov. 12:25); “Kind words are like honey-- sweet to the soul and healthy for the body” (Prov. 16:24). Do you remember the words of Jesus to His church before His crucifixion, “I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart (literally…have courage), because I have overcome the world” (John 16:33). Jesus speaks this at the end of a long teaching on the person of Holy Spirit (John 14-16), who will be given to the disciples as an “encourager”, a ‘helper’, a ‘counselor’, and a ‘comforter’ to get us through the difficult life of following Jesus in a world that is ‘anti-Christ’. All these words: helper, counselor, comforter are used by Jesus to describe the person and work of Holy Spirit and are translations of the Greek noun “parakletos”, which literally means “called alongside” - one who comes alongside to help, comfort, counsel. The New Testament, written in Greek, uses the verb form of the same word to describe the use of the gift of encouragement. Now think about this…God is an encourager and He wants His people encouraged, so He has endowed certain individuals to be His voice in the church to give encouragement. Tychicus was an ‘encourager’ sent to Colossae to encourage the church there (Col. 4:7-8). Some people just have that special gift to be able to bring joy to the heart and relieve anxiety – it is the Holy Spirit, the Encourager, working through His people to comfort a called-out remnant living in a hostile world. Although there are specific people with specific gifts of encouragement, I do believe that because Holy Spirit lives in every follower of Jesus, that at any time, we should be encouraging one another as we travel life’s road to glory together. This is exactly what Paul tells the church in Thessalonica to do: “So encourage each other and build each other up, just as you are already doing” (1Thess. 5:11). A healthy body of Christ, a healthy family of God, a healthy church encourages each other with our words and our acts of love towards one another. It is how we are commanded to live with each other: “Let everything you say be good and helpful, so that your words will be an encouragement to those who hear them” (Eph. 4:29). I praise God for those individuals who truly have the gift of encouragement to consistently be able to speak life into difficult situations. Oh, how we need them more than ever as the days get more and more difficult for true followers of Jesus (Heb. 10:25). In that slim chance that we don’t have people in our life or church to encourage us, there are two other sources of encouragement: God and God’s word. These are the two most important and readily available sources of encouragement. How much time do you spend with each? “For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope (Rom. 15:4). “May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you a spirit of unity among yourselves as you follow Christ Jesus” (Romans 15:5). Friends, let’s choose to be encouraged and of good cheer. Let’s surround ourselves with those who build us up in our faith. And, let us be those who bring an encouraging word to others by pointing them to the same God and Word that encourage us.
Be a blessing!
"Advancing the Kingdom of God by releasing Spirit-filled followers to serve Jesus in freedom and joy."
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