Several years ago, I had offered up a compliment to a fellow believer. The recipient made the comment that they didn't know if I was telling the truth or trying to flatter them. Welp, that was a slap in the face that took me aback. Because I'd had the fortune of walking with Jesus for a while, I took some time to assess my motives. I was happy to discover that I wasn't interested in flattering, but honestly wanted this person to know I'd appreciated whatever it was for which I'd encouraged them. To be truthful, that comment did a number on my spirit for some time. I'd discovered that I valued that person's opinion more than I valued the Lord's prompting to offer up encouragement. I also learned that person's response came from a place of deep insecurity, hence the comment. What I had to work through was balancing a motive check with obedience to His leading with call He has placed on my life to be an encourager. He has gifted me with the desire to influence through encouragement to see other believers be all that He has made them to be for His glory.
So fast forward to today. Our church has been participating in a 50 for 50 series. It's fifty minutes for fifty days to incorporate biblical habits into one's life. The four areas of concentration are prayer, reading, exercise and encouragement. It's been a life changing challenge for me, to say the least. While I'd created habits for prayer, reading and encouragement, I figured the exercise would be my daily battle. Oh, do I love how He reminds me that my thoughts are not His! The biggest challenge has been the encouragement component, which has caused me to go deeper in to studying this concept of encouraging another. What He has prompted me to do is to be quiet, pray and wait for His prompt on the person. I've yet to have Him tell me how to encourage the person, but rather to just be obedient. There have been days that the prompt has been easy. There have been days that it's been a challenge. There has been one day that I knew the best encouragement I could do would be to pray for that individual because they are not in a place to receive a word from me. In the over two weeks I've been doing this, the outcome has left me so joy filled, because the joy is rooted in obedience to Him. He has challenged my "people opinion" thinking on this and I've given that up to Him. I'm not responsible for any response, but rather my planting and watering seeds of encouragement. And the Lord being
the Lord, has spurred some recipients to share how obedience to His prompt has lifted spirits, strengthened their resolve, or to know they are loved. While it may not seem like a big deal, it is to Jesus!
I found a biblical definition of encouragement that gave me a lot to contemplate. From the AV1611 site: ENCOUR'AGE, (v.t. enkur'rage.) To give courage to; to give or increase confidence of success; to inspire with courage, spirit, or strength of mind; to embolden; to animate; to incite; to inspirit.
The lessons I've learned have been many. Encouragement is more than a kind word, although that's the easiest one for me. It can also be challenging words that will move from a place of potential destruction to a place of victory, and those should almost always be done face to face! Encouragement can be delivering a Starbucks to a friend and letting them know they are seen in their discouragement. It can be sending up a prayer, knowing that what that person is in need of is the Lord himself, not my opinion or input. Encouragement is quite simply meeting people where they are and being the catalyst that He uses to grow and mold them into all He's created them to be!
One last thought, one of my top favorite bible characters is Barnabas. His name means encourager, and he lived up to his name. While his story isn't a long one, his life was one of great influence on the spread of the gospel and those who carried to far reaching places on earth. A side note here - not everyone is called or created to be a Moses or a Paul. The Bible is full of people who were mentioned once or twice that had mighty impact for the kingdom. Do not allow anyone to compare your gifting with another or diminish HIS calling on your life. It is all important to Jesus!
Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing. 1 Thessalonians 5:11
