May 11

Encourage One Another

"See to it, brothers, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin's deceitfulness." Hebrews 3:12-13

We've all become discouraged; had our hearts start to doubt, and begin to lose faith. When we fall for sin's lies our once soft heart begins to harden. God doesn't want to see that and He gives us the way the combat that natural tendency. God proposes a counterattack: "Encourage one another daily." Think about that word encourage, "courage in". When we encourage others, we are not only putting courage into them; but we are reinforcing God's goodness, and our trust in Him into our own hearts. When we become an encourager, we not only energize those around us, but we, in turn, will find that we have become energized ourselves. We live in a very negative world, one that is filled with stress; and there is not a soul on this earth that does not need encouragement. For our Christian brothers and sisters, we can be the one that will help to keep them pointed in the right direction by pointing them to the Lord and His hand in their lives. This ministry of encouragement is available to every one of us. And it is desperately needed. But it doesn't happen naturally. That's why God is directing us to do it. It requires an adjustment in our outlook: to choose to walk around handing out encouragement, because one cannot be negative and be an encourager. Our focus needs to be on heaven, then and only then can we be the encouragers that God wants us to be. Today, in our family, our workplace, and our relationships, there are people who are dying for encouragement. Some are weary, others are dying spiritually. God has given us the power to give life back to them if we will take the time to be an encouragement. This should be a daily endeavor on our part. The scripture says we are to do it each and every day. Encouragement is like manna: it is nourishing and useful today, but tomorrow it is gone and it need to be replenished. Look around you today and be the encourager that God desires you to be. It will not only strengthen others, but it will renew your soul.

Father, help me to be an encourager. Help me to point others toward You when life gets them down. Father, You have always been there for me; help me to be there for others who are hurting. Give me the heart of Christ that seeks to serve and help and, in doing so, my faith will be strengthened as well. Amen