Are You Encouraging Others?

Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing. – 1 Thessalonians 5:11

William Barclay, a devotional commentator, once said, “One of the highest of human duties is the duty of encouragement. It is easy to pour cold water on enthusiasm. It is easy to discourage others. The world is full of discouragers. We have a Christian duty to encourage one another.”

This is what we should all be doing as followers of Jesus. Many people say, “I don't know what my ministry is.” Your ministry is strengthening other people and encouraging other people.

I love the story that John Powell tells in his work, “Fully Human, Fully Alive.” He related the story of a man who made a homemade craft to sail around the world. When he finally finished the craft and he was getting ready to board the boat, a crowd of people met him at the pier.

There were two different groups of people with two very different messages. One crowd said, “It will sink. It won't last in the big waves. You will die. Go back to the drawing board. Don't do it.”
Then there was another crowd who said, “We believe in you, Bon Voyage. You can do it. You can make it happen.”

Let me ask you a question. Out of the two different crowds, which one would you have been in? We need people who believe in us, encourage us, and are there for us, both physically and verbally. Are you that type of person for the people in your life? I pray that as you ponder these questions, the Holy Spirit will convict you of any critical spirit that has taken root in your soul and that you will be challenged and motivated to encourage those around you.