Encourage Each Other

Bible Verses, Christian, Devos and Inspiration, Faith, mel's world, melissa mashburn, Prayers, speak to my soul sunday's, Stay at Home Mom, Thoughts

2 Thessalonians 2:16-17,
“May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and by his grace gave us eternal encouragement and good hope, encourage your hearts and strengthen you in every good deed and word.”

I can not even begin to tell you just how excited I am to be talking about ENCOURAGEMENT today. One of my all time highest spiritual gifts is Encouragement and so it is near and dear to me. Allow me to jump right into some great words I have found today so we can all learn to live, laugh, love and encourage each other more.

Did you know that in my research to do this devotional I found out that the word “ENCOURAGE” is in the Bible 59 times and the word “ENCOURAGEMENT” is in the Bible 13 times…that’s a total of 72 times in the Good Book. Hum, it makes you wonder if it is in the Bible THAT many times then it must be pretty important to God, don’t ya think?

Romans 1:12, “that is, that you and I may be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith.”

Did you notice that? “Encouraged by each other’s faith”…that’s pretty awesome, isn’t it? You and I can be an encouragement to others just by walking the walk. You don’t have to be the most outgoing person, the loudest person, the oozing with confidence person, you just have to be the YOU that God created and live your life for Him…that in and of itself can be an encouragement to another believer.

I love this quote from Joel Osteen… “When you focus on being a blessing, God makes sure that you are always blessed in abundance.”

I know that not everyone has the gift of encouragement, but I do believe that everyone is capable (even if it is with much practice) to be an encourager. If being an encourager doesn’t come naturally to you just go back to His word and check out what I found in Hebrews.

Hebrews 10:24 (AMP)“And let us consider and give attentive, continuous care to watching over one another, studying how we may stir up (stimulate and incite) to love and helpful deeds and noble activities,”

That’s it! We have to be attentive and ready to encourage someone else. I know that in today’s society it is so easy to believe that we are supposed to focus only on ourselves, what we want, when we want it, but come on…you and I are called to be different, right? So, it’s time to actually be different!

Did you know that encouragement can take SO many different forms…
* let someone in front of you and smile while you wait (in the grocery line, at the bank, at the dry cleaners)

* tell your kids, your spouse, your friend, that they are awesome and actually take a minute to describe WHY!
* send a card or note to a friend, just because (I LOVE doing this one!)
* call and leave messages on your friends, family members, kids, etc. voice mail telling them something that you absolutely LOVE about them
* actually look your boss in the eyes and tell them how much you appreciate being able to work with them
* lend a hand, on the shoulder, or in actual labor to someone who really needs it…just to let them know you are there and that you care

~ “Nine tenths of education is encouragement” – Anatole France (French Novelist)

Isaiah 50:4 (NLT) –
“The Sovereign Lord has given me his words of wisdom,

so that I know how to comfort the weary.
Morning by morning he wakens me
and opens my understanding to his will.”

If you don’t know how to start Encouraging Others read and re-read the words above in Isaiah 50:4. I am sure if you prayed and asked God who HE wants you to encourage He will show you. Every day I ask Him to show me who needs me to talk to them as a vessel for Him and don’t ya know every day I am blessed because I am able to be a blessing to someone else. You can too!

Start today! Seek Him and start encouraging others…if we all did this the world would be a better place and people would start to see that we are “different” and maybe, just maybe, that will give us a chance to tell them why!

You Can Do It, I Know You Can,

13 Comments

  1. You have this one down well girl!

    As a victim of your incredibly encouraging heart this week, I have to say THANK YOU!!!

    You blessed my socks off this week with the card and gift!
    Love you bunches,
    Sue

  2. As soon as I read the title of this post I thought to myself “Mel is such a great encourager !!” You always leave encouraging comments on my blog and every post you write it encouraging in some way ! It IS a gift and you got it in big doses, girl !! I agree with you that everyone is capable of being an encourager, even if it isn’t “their gift”. Thanks for the reminder of the little things we can do that often make a big impact on the lives of people in our world, be they family, friends or even strangers.

  3. Melissa,

    Your gift shines thorugh in all that you do! I love the scripture from Hebrews (especially the translation from the Amplified that you used). And also the Isaiah scripture!

    Keep on shining, Melissa!
    Maria

  11. You hit this so on the mark. It’s amazing how a little encouragement can change our perspective and how we can change someone else’s. I loved your examples of encouragement too.

  12. Oh ditto what everyone else said. Your encouraging words definitely jump off the page! Thank you for your prayers for my talk tonight!

  13. Isaiah 50:4 (NLT) –
    “The Sovereign Lord has given me his words of wisdom,
    so that I know how to comfort the weary.
    Morning by morning he wakens me
    and opens my understanding to his will.”

    I LOVE this verse!

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