“And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart.” (Galatians 6:9)
I’ve been writing this column for almost eight years; maintaining a website that features all my columns for about as long. Recently, I’ve started emailing my devotions to those who request a copy each week. Why?
I look around and honestly can’t see any difference it’s making in the world. Evil is everywhere. I can’t talk about Jesus at work, and it appears, at least in my neck of the woods, that America has a growing hostility to anything “Christian”. It doesn’t look as if we’re winning the war!
It appears I’ve done exactly what the Apostle Paul said I shouldn’t do: I’ve lost heart. But I’ve looked around, and I have to tell you there are a lot of Christians out there, perhaps some of you, who have lost heart, too. How do we get it back?
Christians in the Bible certainly weren’t immune to “growing weary while doing good.” But God understood the power of encouragement. It was modeled best for us in the life of Barnabas. In fact, the name Barnabas means son of encouragement.
Do you remember Barnabas? God paired Barnabas with Paul while he was planting churches and writing much of the New Testament. He knew that Paul would have his low moments and sent Barnabas to remind Paul of the hope we have in Christ. The Bible records it this way: “When he came and had seen the grace of God, he was glad, and encouraged them all that with purpose of heart they should continue with the Lord. For he was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and of faith. And a great many people were added to the Lord.” (Acts 11:23-24) I don’t think Paul could have accomplished what he did without Barnabas.
I recently learned a good lesson about the power of encouragement and it came just after I had asked the Lord to help me with my low moment. The first word of encouragement came from a pastor from my wife’s hometown, a man who my wife loves like a father. We’ve been sharing weekly devotions with him. In fact, he was the one who suggested that I start sending my devotions (columns) out by email to those who requested a copy. He later wrote: “As I turned on my computer very early on this Tuesday morning, your devotion about suffering ministered to me in a very powerful way. Thank you seems so inadequate, but will have to do until that day in the city of God when with a perfect mind without even a taint of sin, I will be able to fully express what your faithfulness in posting devotions on the Internet meant to me.”
Another reader wrote me about how one of my columns prompted a change in his life. “One article was particularly important to me,” he said, “and was a main reason for attending church again and making my religion and Christ an important part of my life.”
While low couldn’t accurately describe where my spirit was, the lift I received from the encouragement that came my way is equally difficult to put into words. It was oxygen to my soul and will make me ever mindful of the power of a thoughtful word. Hebrews 3:13 says that we should “exhort one another daily, while it is called ‘Today’.” In other words, we should never put off the opportunity to lift a spirit. The warning here is that tomorrow may be too late.
True encouragers are exercising a spiritual gift. But that doesn’t mean that the rest of us can’t put encouragement to work in our own lives. The truth is encouragement was never really meant to help us in our Christian walk. It something we give without any expectation of getting anything back in return. And believe you me! What a difference it can make in the lives of others.
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