Are you an encourager or a discourager?
Do you look for what is praiseworthy about someone or do you focus on what you perceive as flaws?
In 1 Thessalonians 5:11, the Apostle Paul tells us, “Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing.” The writer of Hebrews challenges us in 10:24-25 “And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as the habit of some but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.”
As difficult as this life journey is, we need to be encouraging to our brothers and sisters in Christ, not adding to the discouragement they already have as they face the challenges of this world. The world offers enough discouragement to tear us down, we in the body of Christ don’t need to pile on more discouragement.
In our Christian walk, we are all on the same journey but we’re not all in the same place. The Bible is clear; we each one must work our own salvation with fear and trembling (Philippians 2:12). I’ve heard it said this way, “every tub must sit on its own bottom”. Each of us is responsible for ourselves. We need to be careful when we are casting rocks of discouragement over trivial things that do not matter. We are growing in our sanctification process, we are learning, maturing, and making the adjustments we need to walk closer with the Lord. We need to be cheering on our brothers and sisters in Christ with encouragement. Why? because we have experienced the same grace from God through our Lord Jesus Christ.
So, when you feel that you are about to speak a discouraging and critical word, pause, and ask why? Before you utter it, ask is this going to build my brother or sister up or is it going to discourage them, or hurt them or drive them away from the family. 99.9% of the time that I hear a discouraging word or comment made about something or someone it’s typically about some molehill being made into a mountain. We make big deals out of little insignificant things.
In our day we face a lot of mountains already in reaching people for Christ and getting them plugged into the church. Let us not push up more mountains with our discouraging and negative comments but let us help our brothers and sisters cross the mountain by building bridges of encouragement.
~ Insights for the Journey is a weekly devotional from Pastor Christopher Clark to engage, encourage and equip believers in their Christian journey. This devotional and others can also be found on our website: www.cordovabc.org/insights_for_the_journey. ~
