The good Lord had me rise before 4:30am today to write this blog. When He decides to get me up this early, it usually means there’s something on my heart that He wants me to capture. Today it involves the concept of encouragement, a topic I’ve been pondering a lot lately.

I’ve often taught from my pulpit that courage is nothing more than applied faith (in the case of a believer, this means trust in God). Therefore, when a person with a lot of faith puts their faith into action it will manifest as courage. If we dissect the word ‘encourage’ we get ‘en’ + ‘courage’ (“in” + “faith applied/trust in God”). We see a practical definition of the word ‘encourage’ in the dictionary.

Encourage:
1.to inspire with courage, spirit, or hope : hearten
2.to attempt to persuade : urge
-Merriam-Webster

To me, the opportunity to encourage another person is among the sweetest things a person can do. If done rightly, with a pure heart, both the giver and receiver are blessed. The operative words here are ‘rightly’ and ‘pure’. We all know that there’s such a thing as bad encouragement (e.g., the kingdom of darkness encourages us to sin all the time). I’ll leave that disclaimer for another day and another blog. Right now I want to focus on godly encouragement between believers.

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

The best encouragement among believers comes from a root of:
- Love
- Faith

The Bible speaks voluminously about how vital it is that a believer’s motivation towards any activity springs from a root of love. This applies to encouragement, for example, in the sense that it is a loving heart that desires a sibling in the faith to be lifted up in time of need, that invests in the welfare of others, that sacrifices itself so that another person may be set free from the perils of drifting from the faith.

Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong. Let all that you do be done in love.
-1 Corinthians 16:13-14

Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant, does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered, does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

Love never fails.
-1 Corinthians 13:4-8a

The best encouragement sprouts from love; however, there must be substance to the encouragement we give (e.g., even a well-intentioned heart can give bad advice). There must be a basis for our argument as we attempt to inspire others, to change their perspective, to make a difference. There must be a direction we can point others in that turns them around, gets them rightly oriented to God and back into the sphere of righteousness, where peace and contentment await them.

When we point towards deliverance, faith ought to be at the end of our fingertip.

A pure, loving heart’s great desire is that others experience the Lord’s peace. It wants others to trust in God for salvation, regardless of circumstances – it wants others to have faith. In a sense, godly encouragement is an invitation given through a vessel on behalf of the Lord to enjoy the benefits of faith. Faith is, after all, at the center of godly encouragement, as it is, preeminently, what a righteous person lives by.

“The righteous shall live by faith.”
-Romans 1:17b; Galatians 3:11

The best way to encourage someone is to use the Word of God, for that is the vehicle God uses to impart faith to us.

So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.
-Romans 10:17

If we truly wish to encourage a fellow believer, our greatest tool is the Word of God. A righteous person (who lives by faith) will always defer to God’s ability to deliver a person in time of need. Faith is the end goal; love is the motivation.

So, in closing, here are a few examples worth considering, that when given to a sibling in the faith, represent the best encouragement we could ever give:

Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.”
-Joshua 1:9

He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might he increases strength. Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted; but they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.
-Isaiah 40:29-31

Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.
-John 14:27

I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.
-John 16:33

I sought the LORD, and he answered me and delivered me from all my fears.
-Psalm 34:4

The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake.

Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the LORD forever.
-Psalm 23

Love in Christ,

Ed Collins