Encouragement

Encourage is a frequently urged action in the epistles. The church was to excel at the work of encouraging. And, I have benefitted frequently as the members of God’s Family have taken the apostolic urging seriously.

Family has excelled in the art of encouragement. My mother and father urged us to excel, to work hard, to persevere when we wanted to quit. My sister helped me through college. My brother still calls nearly every day, just to chat and stay connected. We laugh, share special challenges, and remember! While our parents have been gone a long time, siblings remain special messengers who boost morale, share laughter and add perspective when our view is too narrow for making good judgments.

Our children and grandchildren are pure joy and a wellspring of unending encouragement. This past weekend our spirits were pushed happily upward as we shared memories, concerns and hopes. Our grandchildren teem with mischievous excitement at every challenge. It may help that we allow them to declare themselves winners of the bicycle races and held their hands while they tested the cold ocean water. Family encouragement is most effective because siblings and children have known us the longest and most intimately.

Friends we first met in the 60's call, write, and keep in touch through social networks. Bob and Judy are so deliberate at fulfilling the mandate to be an encouraging influence, they have published "An Encouraging Word," which they distribute widely. When Pat and I had dinner with Bob and Judy, they handed copies to people about whom they were sincerely concerned and wanted to encourage. They will visit in a few weeks and we can hardly wait! Bob and Judy are simply, deliberately encouraging! Victor and Nancy call, visit, and share life encouragingly. Victor makes clerks in big box home improvement stores laugh. John and Esther have entered our lives as a healing balm. They encourage! All these friends are living proof of the grace and generosity of God!

On occasion I have been encouraged by a seminary professor who called daily while we worked through a difficult challenge and made decisions which affected the rest of our lives. A District Superintendent did the same. Others have worked side-by-side with us through grueling building renovations. We can barely remember the day-to-day difficulties inherent in the projects, but we can never forget the shared joys of companions in faith who encouraged with presence, heroic efforts and words.

The instructions are simple. "We who are strong ought to bear with the failings of the weak and not to please ourselves. Each of us should please his neighbor for his good, to build him up. For even Christ did not please himself but, as it is written: ‘The insults of those who insult you have fallen on me.’ For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope. May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you a spirit of unity among yourselves as you follow Christ Jesus, so that with one heart and mouth you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ." (Romans 15:1-6)

No wonder, then, that when others encourage, it makes me want to sing! When others boost us with kindness, concern, presence and help, Paul says, we can "glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ."