Encouragement is something we all need from time to time. However, very few are good at giving encouragement. Encouragement is the act of giving support, confidence, or hope to others. It is the persuasion or the stimulation of someone to continue something. Sound simple? If so, why are so many inadequate at giving encouragement?
I believe many are terrible at encouraging others because they lack the ability to show compassion. Their focus is on themselves, not others. They cannot imagine being in the shoes of others because their pride makes them feel they are superior to others. They have forgotten that it is only by God’s grace that any of us are not walking in the shoes of those who we deem as less fortunate. Pride is a sin that God hates. Jesus, in Mark 7:21-23, talks about the things that pollute a person and makes them offensive in the sight of God. To God, these things corrupt the soul and pride is one of them.
Mark 7:21-23 “For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, Thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness: All these evil things come from within, and defile the man.”
To be an encourager you must lay yourself aside. Your thoughts and actions are not about how it will affect you, but how you can help others. This was the attitude of Christ. He, the King of Kings, Creator of everything, lowered himself as a humble servant. There was no vainglory, no attitude of pride in Him, and there should be none in us.
Philippians 2:3-5 “Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves. Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others. Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:”
We are to bear one another’s burdens. We need to reach down and pull those brothers and sisters in despair out of their attitude of no hope. We must remind them that Jesus is our hope. We are his hands and feet and we need to help them with physical needs, and spiritual needs. We must show them we truly love them. He dwells within all believers, and greater is He that is in us, and in them, than He that is in the world.
Galatians 6:2 “Bear ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.”
Romans 15:1 “We then that are strong ought to bear the infirmities of the weak, and not to please ourselves.”
I John 4:4 “Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world.”
We are to encourage them with the Word. Remind them of the promises of God. He will always be there for His people. He’s promised His love, His protection, and that our needs would be met. He promised He will hear and answer our prayers according to His will, and I could go on and on. God’s word is the answer for everything we face, but He wants us to be there to remind our brothers and sisters, to give them a shoulder to cry on and to support them and let them know we care.
If we are truly the hands and feet of Jesus, we are to act as Jesus would act! If more Christians would act this way, we could all stay encouraged, and this would not only make a difference to other believers, it would speak volumes to a lost world with no hope.
It is time for Christians to step up and be an encourager to all the brethren, not just the ones that we are close to. It is time to step out in faith so that all will know by the way we treat others that we serve a holy, loving, awesome God.
John 13:34-35 “A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples if ye have love one to another.”
So how are you doing in this area of encouragement? Are you ready to look for those who need encouragement, and to put yourself aside and think of others? Are you ready to do what we have been commanded to do or are you content to live in your own selfish world and let others’ needs be left unmet? I know this is very pointed but it is time to step up and step out!
