ENCOURAGEMENT

Hebrews 10:25 “…let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the day approaching.”

On June 18, 1956, a freak accident happened on a lake in New York. A speeding motorboat bounced on a wave and shot into the water two of its passengers, a 50-year old man and a little girl. To keep her from drowning, the man held her head above water while the boat circled back. They rescued the girl. But the man sank and drowned. That’s how Dawson Trotman died, the founder of the Navigators, an international discipleship ministry. According to a quote in Time Magazine, “He lived to save others. His death was just the way he would have planned it.” I read somewhere that his obituary reads like this: “Dawson Trotman, always lifting someone up.”

Now that’s a legacy. Would that be yours, too? That you live to save others? That you always lift someone up? In a word, encouragement. In the Greek, the word “encourage” means “to call to one’s side, to comfort, to console, to strengthen.” Basically, to put courage in. At the time of the writing of Hebrews, there was a great persecution. Our tendency during such trying times would be to save our skin or to each his own. But, the book of Hebrews encourages us to encourage one another. Someone wrote, “Encouragement is the kind of expression that helps someone want to be a better Christian, even when life is rough… To encourage is to inspire another with courage.”

It is interesting to note that the Greek word for “encourage” is the one used for the name “Comforter” of the Holy Spirit. People usually equate the works of the Spirit with signs and wonders. But, when we encourage one another, we show that the Spirit really dwells among us. Encouragement is a great indicator that the Spirit is working in our lives.

The word “encourage” is in the present tense. It means a habit or a way of life. In fact, Hebrews commands us to “encourage one another daily, as long as it is called today”. It is also in the active voice. It means we don’t wait for others to encourage us. But we take the initiative. We must encourage even if others could not, even if others would not. Note that we are to “encourage one another”. That means that it is for every one of us.

As much as you and I could use an encouraging word from time to time, there are others who desperately need to be lifted up. Encouragement is a ministry and you and I have opportunity after opportunity to impact a life that is otherwise down trodden. And by offering yourself to help another, you will find yourself more upbeat, more positive, and more encouraged. Encouragement spreads just as quickly (if not more so) than discouragement. Be a catalyst of a positive trend. Be on the lookout for those who just need a smile and a kind word and when you find them, don’t hold back.

Charles Swindoll wrote, “I know of no one more needed, more valuable, more Christ-like than the individual who is committed to the ministry of encouragement.” Be encouraged to encourage others.