2024 January news-letter article - we value Encouragement

Happy second quarter dear friends!

As we wrap up our five-part mini-series, walking through our values, we now come to the fact that We Value Encouragement.  Some of you know that my preferred receiving Love Language is that of “words of affirmation”.  Nothing puts a pep in my step quite like a heart-felt “atta boy!”  Hebrews 3; Hebrews 10; and I Thessalonians 5 are but three of the passages of the New Testament where Christians are instructed to “encourage one another”.  This is one of the great effects of practicing biblical fellowship.  Whether it’s receiving a kind word, or a note in the mail, or seeing your hard work pay off, I think all of us appreciate receiving encouragement.

If it’s good to receive encouragement, let’s consider how we might better give encouragement to others.  As I mentioned above, God’s Word tells us to encourage “one another” as brothers/sisters in Christ.  What a blessing it would be if we had a habit of encouraging non-believers too.  If we were sources of encouragement to those waiting on our table, or checking us out at the grocery store, or fixing our cars, don’t you think Walnut Cove would be a brighter place?  Wouldn’t it be a great service to our neighbors if we actively worked to lift the spirits of those who are working for us?  Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we were known as a church that encourages one another and encourages our neighbors?

The Oxford English Dictionary defines “encouragement” as a noun that means: the action of giving someone confidence or hope.  For us as believers, we know that our confidence lies in the truth that Jesus loves us so much that He laid down His life to pay for our sins.  We also know that our hope lies in the truth that His own resurrection gives us a preview of our own resurrection, glorified body, and eternal life in the presence of God.  Boy, if we want to talk about confidence and hope, that is a real confidence and hope!!

We live in a broken world.  I need not waste any more ink proving that point!  Many days, I stand in need of confidence and hope.  Don’t you?  Do you reckon that we rub shoulders with folks daily that might need a bit of confidence and hope too?  Are you encouraged?  I am.  I’m also convicted that I need to be a brighter light and saltier salt; I need to be a greater source of encouragement.  I need to better encourage fellow Christian brethren.  I also need to better encourage my lost neighbors.  They need confidence and hope, perhaps even more than I do!

Who can you encourage this week?  Who can you pull aside and give an “atta boy”, or a note via e-mail or text message?  How can you be a blessing to someone that might be struggling to have confidence and hope?  I think it’s a pretty safe assumption that you value receiving encouragement, as I do.  Do you value giving it to others too?  Does our church value encouragement as well as we say we do?

Sometimes I feel discouraged, and think my work’s in vain,
but then the Holy Spirit revives my soul again.
There is a balm in Gilead to make the wounded whole;
there is a balm in Gilead to heal the sin-sick soul.

--A.J.