Think Encouragement Series

Think Encouragement

Today is Mother’s Day. Thank God for mothers. Without them where would we all have been?

It is usual for children to do something special for their mothers on Mother’s day. So this particular mother was delighted when her children told her that she could stay put in bed late on Mother’s day. She was further delighted when she heard the clanking sounds of utensils in the kitchen. Slowly the great smell of excellent breakfast wafted into her nostrils, egg and bacon and roasted coffee and whatever her children were generally used to. The mother lay in the bed expectantly for some more time, and she noticed that the commotion in the kitchen had subsided, and she was expecting a call from her children to come and enjoy a sumptuous breakfast. She waited for some time and the call never came. Not able to hold back her curiosity anymore, she got up and came downstairs. She was a bit amused and surprised to see both her children finishing up their breakfast. They beamed delightfully at their mother and proudly proclaimed, “Mom!! As a gift to you for Mother’s day, we made our own breakfast… now you can take your time to make your own…”

Is this the way we appreciate others? At best, meeting our selfish interests and needs? Is our appreciation enough to encourage others? Even when we encourage others, we tend to limit our encouragement. Why do we do that?

Let us ask some basic questions this morning. Do we encourage others at all? Do we encourage ourselves at all? Two sides of the coin? Let us examine this a little further this morning.

Truett Cathy , the founder of the Fast-food chain Chick-fil-A is believed to have said this; “Who needs encouragement? Everyone who is breathing!!” Think about it. I am sure all of us remember a time when we were down in the dump and a word of encouragement from someone made a huge difference.

Let us understand the term encouragement itself. As the word itself indicates en-courage is to add courage to someone, infuse courage in someone, help them to realise their potential and move ahead. That is where, encouragement becomes different from praise. Praise is about affirming some outcome or act that someone did, a recognition of an accomplishment etc. Praise focuses on results, how talented you are, or your physical appearance. Praise is good, but for human beings, praise by itself might not lift up someone if they are feeling down. Using praise alone on someone who is feeling down will be like a doctor who makes the right diagnosis, but prescribes the wrong medicine. What they need is encouragement. Encouragement is something that will help the person realise the hidden potential in him/her, not what he/she is today. Jesus exemplified this when he saw potential in the fumbling, angry, impetuous, Peter. Jesus was able to look beyond Peter’s current talents (and lack of them) but to see the potential in him to build the church on Peter and hand over the keys of heaven to him.

The bible says “Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing. (1 Thess 5:11 ESV)” Christians are clearly called to encourage each other, comfort each other. This of course comes after comforting oneself. Christians are also called to build each other up. Christianity is a spiritual house that is built upon the people, not on brick and mortar. Romans 14:19 (ESV) tells us So then, let us pursue what promotes peace and what builds up one another. This call is what is called as edification in Christian lingo. Are our actions edifying to others? Is it helpful in building the body of Christ? That is why someone used TRUE as an acronym. They advise that before we speak, we apply the TRUE rule to what we are about to say. Is it the Truth? Is it Relevant? Is it Useful? Is it Edifying? If what we are about to say is not fitting the TRUE norm, then it is better to keep quiet. This is very important because Death and life are in the power of the tongue, And those who love it will eat its fruit. (Prov 18:21 NKJV), says the bible. That is the power of the words we speak. It can kill or it can save lives. So we all have a choice, to use our words for discouraging or encouraging. The Bible asks us to use our words for encouragement. And build each other up. Fortunately for us Christians, such encouragement is not just good talk, there is a strong reason why we can effectively do this building each other up stuff, and that is because “For God did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us, that whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with Him. (1 Thess 5:9-10 NKJV). We are not left without a good reason for us to encourage others and build each other up. We have a strong reason. We are appointed to obtain salvation through Jesus Christ and we live together with Him whether we are dead or alive. That is a great reason and a great motivation for us to encourage each other isn’t it? But do we do that often? How often do we do that?