Skip to main content

encourage



One of my favorite things to do is to encourage the people that I come in contact with.  It often becomes evident that the words or occasion is something that God brought our way.  It made a difference for me and the other person.

To encourage someone may be the very thing that allows them to meet God, to hear His truth and to open their lives to greater days.  We need to take every opportunity to be an encourager and to help others be stronger and better.

The definition of “encourage” goes like this: it is to give somebody hope or confidence or to urge somebody to do something.  We can encourage people in many different ways.  It can come through come a conversation.  It may come through a handwritten card or an email.  It may come through a listening ear or a Scripture shared.  Encouragement comes when we open our hearts and lives to other people.

Here is a definition that I have come to: An action taken from one person by design to influence another person because of something we know, have experienced or strongly believe.  Encouragement is a choice we have to make.  It is when we choose to make a difference in someone else’s life.

Therefore encourage one another and build up one another, just as you also are doing.

As you are already doing … Many people I know live a life of encouragement.  Daily they are making a difference in the lives of their family, friends and those they come in contact with.  This word says keep on doing what you are doing.  It is important.

We urge you, brethren, admonish the unruly, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with everyone.

Find these people and do something to make their lives better … admonish the unruly, fainthearted, weak, be patient … none of those are life threatening, yet there are things that take our minds to places of death.  Encouragement changes the direction people are headed.  Praise God for the courage He places in our lives through His son.

Isaiah 35:3  NASB
Encourage the exhausted, and strengthen the feeble.

Have you ever been exhausted or feeble?  Most of us have.  Find something that needs encouragement and give it.  Who outside your normal, everyday routine needs to be given hope and confidence?  Find them.  Encourage them.  It will make a difference!

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Catalyst ticket arrived

My ticket to the Catalyst Conference, in Atlanta Oct 8-10, just arrived. I'm excited!

Have you heard of EDITH BURNS?

Edith Burns was a wonderful Christian who lived in San Antonio, Texas . She was the patient of a doctor by the name of Will Phillips. Dr. Phillips was a gentle doctor who saw patients as people. His favorite patient was Edith Burns.  One morning he went to his office with a heavy heart and it was because of Edith Burns.  When he walked into that waiting room, there sat Edith with her big black Bible in her lap earnestly talking to a young mother sitting beside her.  Edith Burns had a habit of introducing herself in this way: "Hello, my name is Edith Burns.  Do you believe in Easter?" Then she would explain the meaning of Easter, and many times people would be saved.  Dr. Phillips walked into that office and there he saw the head nurse, Beverly. Beverly had first met Edith when she was taking her blood pressure. Edith began by saying,"My name is Edith Burns. Do you believe in Easter?"  Beverly said, "Why yes I do."  Edith said, "Well, what do you ...

wash feet, sharing hope

  John 13:4-5,14 NLT  So he got up from the table, took off his robe, wrapped a towel around his waist, 5 and poured water into a basin. Then he began to wash the disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel he had around him… 14 And since I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you ought to wash each other’s feet. Jesus set the example we follow.  He served.  He valued and gave value to others.  That is why we choose to serve. For 18 years our church has shared an outreach called back2school, and for 16 of those years we have chosen to give students brand new shoes and socks as well as washing their feet.  It is one of the most important parts of this event. Washing feet is a humbling experience where both the give and the receiver learn how to share some moments that might change their lives.  Jesus said we should do this.  See the verse above.  Follow His example, do what He did, and give far more than you will ever know....