As I opened my Bible to dig around the beautiful, strong tall trees and the colorful flower beds of truths in God’s Word concerning what the Lord says to us about encouragement and support toward one another, I was so amazed after reading passages after passages, too many to number. It made me realize how vital these expressions of love are for God’s people.
I came to the conclusion that encouragement is like oxygen in the life of the church. It keeps us serving, giving, and teaching all those good stuff in the body of Christ the church. It keeps us Christ-centered and less self-centered.
You know what I also noticed is that because encouragement and support are so important to the church, God doesn’t just recommend it but He commands it. 1 Thess 5v11.
God commanded that his people encourage each other because he knows we need it. Jesus warned that “ in this world we will have trouble” but He encourages us right after that by saying don’t be discouraged, you know who you have living in you, and walks beside you ME, I have OVERCOME the world, John 16:33. I have overcome every trouble, obstacle, curse, weakness of the flesh, enemy, everything a human can imagine or go through, and more.
We live in a broken world where everything calls us toward selfishness and despair. Sin steals our joy, our bodies break down, our plans fail, our dreams crash, our solutions just don’t work like they used to, our perspectives on life fade. We are promised suffering, 1 Peter, persecution John 15:20, and trails of various kinds James 1:2,3.
When encouragement is absent from the life of a church people will feel unloved, unimportant, useless, and forgotten. God knows his people are in need of grace filled reminders so he calls us to encourage each other every day until He returns Heb 3:13
I also realized that Biblical encouragement is not focused on complementing someone’s clothes, or new hairstyle or their delicious macaroni; that kind of encouragement is important but the kind of encouragement the Lord commands us in scripture is with the hopes that it will lift someone’s heart toward the Lord, Col 4:8. It points out the evidence of God’s grace in their life to help them see that God is using them 1 Cor 12v12. It points a person to God’s promises that assures them that all they (we)face is under His control Matt28v18.
I also noticed that encouragement and support were a regular part of the early church’s life together (Act 13:15, 16:40 18;27 20:1-2 27:36). They shared words with each other to support one another on in faith Acts 14:22. Such encouragement in our hope Rom 15:4, joy Acts 15:31, strength Acts 15:32, faithfulness 1 Thes2:12, and about the return of Jesus 1 Thes 4:18. These are just a few areas the Bible encourages us in.
Therefore, we can all pray that God will make us an encourager of His Word to others. Seek through prayer those God shows us to encourage. Let’s discipline ourselves to be an encourager. Like Minister Vernessa said, be a Barnabas, one who made it a point to encourage also Sister Miriam reminded us to listen more to the heart of the person, and Deaconess Ramona encourages us to lift the hurting up in pray always to the Lord.
Be Encouraged Because He Has Overcome The World.