Dear Friends,
Living as a Christian in our world is not always easy. In fact sometimes it is just downright hard. There are all sorts of reasons that people find the Christian life hard – personal struggle, persecution and doubt are just three of a long list. When people around you are rejoicing in God and you feel like you are walking through knee deep mud, the matter sometimes compounds.
If you feel like this, two things are important to grasp hold of. First, the Christian life is not lived alone and second, God is not unaware of your struggles. Both of these things come together in the Bible where God constantly instructs us to encourage each other.
There are a myriad of passages we could point to with this instruction; here is one:
See to it, brothers and sisters, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called ‘Today’, so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness. (Hebrews 3:12, 13)
You have a responsibility to your fellow believers. Your responsibility is encouragement. How might you do “encouragement”? The Bible makes it clear that it involves words that uplift or embolden faith. So here is a place to start…
When you see a Christian friend, share something you have learnt from God; ask them how they are going with God; pray with them for issues that are on their mind; help them to work through their struggles or discouragements by offering to meet, talk, pray, or walk alongside as they struggle.
I wonder how often we actually start conversations like this after church, after our Growth Groups or over dinners or coffees? Do you encourage people with news of Jesus or with news from The Olympics, your sports team or your child’s latest exploit? You may find that starting an encouraging conversation about Jesus may actually turn into an opportunity for you to be encouraged and for your friend to be deeply cared for.
Have a go, then let us know how it went via a Next Steps Card. We’d love to pray for you.
In Christ,
Nigel