Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing.

– 1 Thessalonians 5:11

Did you know the word encourage by definition means to give support, hope, or confidence in someone? And that hope is defined as the sure and confident expectation of receiving what God has promised us in the future? In other words, without encouragement, one could lose hope and without Jesus, there is no hope. And hopelessness, well, that is the thought that things will never get better, ever.

When things go wrong, we want assurance that things are going to be ok, we want hope. God sees all the pain and suffering in our world and He is always right there with us. Much like a father running to the rescue of his daughter who crashed and burned on her bicycle. He scoops up his little girl, cleans off her scraped up knee, and puts a band aid on it. And then with a hug, a smile, and a kiss he says, “All better”.

We live in a very broken world where tough days and hard times are unescapable. Divorce, a fatal diagnosis, a loss of a job, a loss of a loved one, an unexpected move, emptiness, a loss of a friend; these are all times when we need encouragement. We need to know that things WILL get better. We need to know that we will be ok. We need hope! God tells us that this very hope we are seeking can be found in the faith of Jesus.

Through hope we will continue to grow in our faith and live our lives the way that Jesus did. Sometimes it’s hard to know the right words to say or the right thing to do for someone who is hurting. In those times, it’s ok to feel that, and then pause and pray to God for the right words to say or right thing to do and He will guide your heart and your mind so that you can share encouragement all around you.

Prayer:

Heavenly Father, please guide me to see those around me who might feel saddened or discouraged. Please help me know the right words to share with them so they can feel the hope that you have given to all of us through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ!

Daily Reading: Luke 7

– Contributed by Heather Roberts