I don’t know about you but there is much in life to discourage us, isn’t there? On the national and international front, there are stories of disasters, disease, war, hunger, crime, etc. Then there are problems that we and those close to us are dealing with - debt, divorce, health, the economy. It seems that in a few decades we have gone from 'where seldom is heard a discouraging word’ to 'where seldom is heard an encouraging word’!
Stop and think about it. How often do we watch the news, read the newspaper or listen to ‘talk radio’ and come away encouraged? Not very often. How often do we talk with co-workers and come away encouraged? Not very often. Most of the time our conversation revolves around what is wrong with the world, with society, with others. Perhaps even what is wrong with ourselves. What we and our world needs now, more than ever, is encouragement.
What is encouragement? The dictionary defines it as “to inspire with hope, courage, or confidence; to hearten.”. I like working with a definition similar to the one that I used for courage and discouragement. Encouragement is to inspire someone to keep on going, even when life is tough or uncertain. Basically it is giving someone courage. Courage to go on. To not give up. Or quit.
Once again, turning to the Bible, we can see a number of people who were encouraged - almost all of them by God. Abraham was encouraged that he was going to have a son. Gideon was encouraged to recruit an army to fight the Midianites. Hezekiah was encouraged that the Assyrians would not conquer Jerusalem. Timothy was encouraged to do well at pastoring. In Acts 4:36, Joseph, a Levite from Cyprus was called Barnabas, which means “son of encouragement.”
Of course, there are numerous verses in Scripture that speak of the importance of encouragement:
Isaiah 35:3 - “Encourage the exhausted, and strengthen the feeble.”
2 Corinthians 13:11 - “Encourage one another, be of one mind, live in peace.”
I Thessalonians 5:11 - “Encourage one another and build each other up...”
I Thessalonians 5:14 - “Admonish the unruly, encourage the fainthearted...”
Romans 15:5 - “....God who gives perseverance and encouragement....”
Clearly encouragement is something that we need and we are to give others.
Encouragement is of particular interest to me for two reasons. First it is one of my spiritual gifts. I love encouraging people. It comes naturally to me and people really seem to be helped by it. Secondly, I need encouragement. Being that I am very hard on myself I need to hear from people that God is using my ministry to have an impact on them. To this end I keep an ‘encouragement book’. Actually two of them as you can see in the picture. In these binders are copies of written encouragement that I have received from people over the years. I look at them periodically to encourage myself when I need it. If you find that you need encouragement I encourage you to do the same. What is even better is to read the promises found in God's Word. It is the best encouragement that anyone could ever hope to receive!
Lord, thank you for the encouragement that You give me. Through Your Word. Through Your Spirit. Through others. May I receive courage from it. Help me, in turn, to encourage others. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Stop and think about it. How often do we watch the news, read the newspaper or listen to ‘talk radio’ and come away encouraged? Not very often. How often do we talk with co-workers and come away encouraged? Not very often. Most of the time our conversation revolves around what is wrong with the world, with society, with others. Perhaps even what is wrong with ourselves. What we and our world needs now, more than ever, is encouragement.
What is encouragement? The dictionary defines it as “to inspire with hope, courage, or confidence; to hearten.”. I like working with a definition similar to the one that I used for courage and discouragement. Encouragement is to inspire someone to keep on going, even when life is tough or uncertain. Basically it is giving someone courage. Courage to go on. To not give up. Or quit.
Once again, turning to the Bible, we can see a number of people who were encouraged - almost all of them by God. Abraham was encouraged that he was going to have a son. Gideon was encouraged to recruit an army to fight the Midianites. Hezekiah was encouraged that the Assyrians would not conquer Jerusalem. Timothy was encouraged to do well at pastoring. In Acts 4:36, Joseph, a Levite from Cyprus was called Barnabas, which means “son of encouragement.”
Of course, there are numerous verses in Scripture that speak of the importance of encouragement:
Isaiah 35:3 - “Encourage the exhausted, and strengthen the feeble.”
2 Corinthians 13:11 - “Encourage one another, be of one mind, live in peace.”
I Thessalonians 5:11 - “Encourage one another and build each other up...”
I Thessalonians 5:14 - “Admonish the unruly, encourage the fainthearted...”
Romans 15:5 - “....God who gives perseverance and encouragement....”
Clearly encouragement is something that we need and we are to give others.
Encouragement is of particular interest to me for two reasons. First it is one of my spiritual gifts. I love encouraging people. It comes naturally to me and people really seem to be helped by it. Secondly, I need encouragement. Being that I am very hard on myself I need to hear from people that God is using my ministry to have an impact on them. To this end I keep an ‘encouragement book’. Actually two of them as you can see in the picture. In these binders are copies of written encouragement that I have received from people over the years. I look at them periodically to encourage myself when I need it. If you find that you need encouragement I encourage you to do the same. What is even better is to read the promises found in God's Word. It is the best encouragement that anyone could ever hope to receive! Lord, thank you for the encouragement that You give me. Through Your Word. Through Your Spirit. Through others. May I receive courage from it. Help me, in turn, to encourage others. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
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