Are you an encourager? Do you go out of your way to encourage someone every day? I think the Church today is really lacking in this virtue. I’ve been in a Christian group where I was really encouraged in the past and then felt cast aside. I’ve had fellow believers I’ve never even met face to face give me more support than those who I see in person on a regular basis. I like to think that people who shun others or turn their backs on them when they need encouraged the most don’t do it on purpose (I hope…) but rather are just neglectful to see the needs beyond themselves. I should also be mindful to try to be the encourager I’d like others to be for me. We all should.
Some people like Barnabus are known to have the gift of encouragement. They are famous for edifying fellow believers. Whether you have the “gift” of encouragement or not, you still can encourage one another, and when you encourage someone else, it edifies you and you stand a good chance of others having your back when YOU are the one in need of support and encouragement.
Hebrews 3:13 tells us to encourage one another DAILY. Why does God say to do this daily? I believe the urgency has to do with something the apostle Peter urgently warns us about in 1 Peter 5:8: “Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour.”
The enemy of our souls doesn’t take a day off. In light of that fact, we should be mindful that we need each other EVERY DAY.
“Let us think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works. And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near.” -Hebrews 10:24-25 (NLT)
The writer of Hebrews tells us to be proactive in how we think of each other and seek to encourage each other. It says to THINK OF WAYS TO MOTIVATE ONE ANOTHER and to ENCOURAGE ONE ANOTHER especially now that the day of His return draws near.
Those of you who consider yourselves watchers (those watching for Christ’s return and how world event are lining up towards that) would probably agree with me that the day of Christ’s return is VERY near!
“A person standing alone can be attacked and defeated, but two can stand back-to-back and conquer. Three are even better, for a triple-braided cord is not easily broken.” – Ecclesiastes 4:12
