A Word of Encouragement

Wednesday, April 9, 2008

Acts 20:1-3
When the uproar had ended, Paul sent for the disciples
and, after encouraging them, said good-by and set out for Macedonia. He
traveled through that area, speaking many words of encouragement to the
people, and finally arrived in Greece, where he stayed three months.
Because the Jews made a plot against him just as he was about to sail
for Syria, he decided to go back through Macedonia.

Acts 4:36
Joseph, a Levite from Cyprus, whom the apostles called Barnabas (which means Son of Encouragement)

Acts 15:30-32

30The men were sent off and went down to Antioch, where they gathered
the church together and delivered the letter. 31The people read it and
were glad for its encouraging message. 32Judas and Silas, who
themselves were prophets, said much to encourage and strengthen the
brothers.

Dictionary.com defines encourage as: to inspire with
courage, spirit, or confidence. Is there any doubt how important an
encouraging word can be? How much does it mean when you feel totally
spent to have someone say that they have noticed how hard you are
working and that they appreciate what you are doing?

I like to call this type of encouragement the encouragement of affirmation. Often times the old adage
that the squeaky wheel gets the oil holds true. It is those that are
not doing what they should or those that are struggling who receive our
encouragement, and they should. But we should also take time to recognize
our brothers and sisters who are on the right track. Giving this kind
of encouragement takes discipline. We have to remind ourselves consciously not to take for granted the work of those around us, but to vocally recognize the good job that those around us do.

Equally
important for Christians is to project the second type of
encouragement, lifting encouragement. This type of encouragement is
meant to be given to those that are feeling defeated or even useless.
We all have those days when we feel drained, when we have been
well-meaning in our actions but it seems that it all goes wrong. This
is the time when we need to step in and be willing to offer lifting
encouragement. Lifting encouragement is empathizing, sympathizing, and
reassuring that things will get better.

The third type of
encouragement I want to address is probably the hardest for Christians
to offer. This type of encouragement is what I call metamorphic
encouragement. Metamorphic encouragement is encouragement that exacts
change. Sometimes we are confronted with a person that we care about
who is obviously on an ungodly road. This is the time when we have to
offer encouragement to move back toward the correct path.

This
does not have to appear as a condescending comment, it could be as easy
as inviting someone to attend church who has gotten out of attending
regular service. You might ask a buddy to meet you for dinner one night
and come to your bible study afterwards. This type of encouragement can
be put in a positive light by making inclusive statements instead of
statements that isolate and demean. Many Christians fall into the trap
of simply pointing out that they see others are sinning. More often
than not, confronting someone with a, "you're doing this wrong, fix it"
attitude is not going to illicit change. If you instead approach the
situation as someone who is inviting or someone who has dealt with a
similar situation, you may become a welcomed ray of hope.

God
calls us to gather together, one reason for us gathering is so that we
can encourage each other to live the life we are called to. Sometimes
this means helping a friend to see where change is needed, sometimes it
is lifting spirits and sometimes it is recognizing the accomplishments
of others. Let us always diligently look for ways that we can support
our brothers and sisters in Christ.