Encouragement

We all have weaknesses and we all need encouragement. The Lord convicted me and humbled me as I finished up a lesson of my Hebrews Bible study covering verses 6:9-20. These verses are encouraging words for us "who have fled to take hold of the hope offered to us".

It's not the verses that humbled me, but they strengthened me. The humbling part was in the Bible study worksheet itself. At the end there's a "Personal Evaluation" paragraph. It says,

"Encouraging words abound in these few verses. The author teaches that God initiates our safety and the Lord Jesus guards it for us. We have not earned God's kindness and care, yet God chooses to encourage us. Everybody needs encouragement. You and I need to imitate His pattern of behalf of those with whom we live and work and worship. Encouragement is often most needed when it is least deserved. Perhaps someone you know or love needs encouraging words from you right now."

The humbling part is the statement, "Encouragement is often most needed when it is least deserved." If I can be frank, I can think of a lot of people who cause, or have caused, me grief and my tendency is to judge them, or to hide from them, because I don't think they deserve anything better. But the fact of the matter is that they probably need my encouragement most. The folks with Community Bible Study didn't pull this concept out of thin air but there is much to say about it in scripture. Here's a few references.

Ephesians 5:1-2.
Galatians 6:1-2.
Luke 6:27-31.

So, Christian, I encourage you. If God gives you strength and He leads you to someone needing encouragement, do so. Practice this because we cannot be instantly good at conveying God's encouragement to others. Also, if you feel discouraged do not be afraid to ask someone else for encouragement.