Therefore, encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.
1 Thessalonians 5:11
On April 1st, I listened as my coworker giggled about others pranking their friends. She doesn’t have a mean bone in her body, but she is a playful adult who loves to laugh. I waited until she left her desk for a few minutes and took the opportunity to turn around most of her desktop supplies.
Then I watched while she found her wrist pad, mouse, tape dispenser, even her Snoopy figurine facing backwards. As she discovered each item, she laughed, saying things like, “You’re such a prankster!” and “That’s a good one!” It was as though, by picking up on her clues, I was letting her know that I appreciate her sense of humor and that I listen to her, even when it’s about something as silly as a prank.
There have also been times when her mood wasn’t playful at all. In fact, during solemn times of trouble and sorrow, she has shared with me about friends who are struggling with sick children or marital brokenness or unsuccessful surgery. At those times, I’ve unplugged myself from my phone and walked over to pat her on the shoulder or give her a heart-felt hug.
During other times, she has been the encourager, standing behind a decision I’ve made or keeping a confidence I’ve shared or crying with me over financial struggles, parenting missteps or faith challenges. Her compassion has carried me through some difficult personal woes that otherwise might have threatened my job.
In times like ours, we might look at what Christians are facing worldwide and think, Who am I to seek encouragement? I’m not in fear of physical torment, imprisonment or corporal punishment because of my faith.
Before we belittle our own woes in the light of others’ problems, let’s look again at the Scripture above. Notice that it doesn’t say, “Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing, as long as the trouble is serious enough.” Neither does it say, “After you’ve judged the other’s experience and deemed it worthy of encouragement…” It simply says, “Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.”
Let’s ask ourselves a few questions.
- When did I last encourage another? If I can’t remember, the answer is “too long ago.”
- Why is it easier for me to find fault than it is to build another up? If I am afraid to be an encourager, I’m listening to the wrong voice. I will seek God in others.
- Am I known as an encourager (“just as in fact you are doing”)? If others avoid me, I will take a hard look at the reason this is so.
- Does jealousy ever cause me to shame someone? I will tend to my own knitting, as my grandmother, Mimi, used to say. The Holy Spirit may prick someone’s heart. I will leave that job to Him.
- Am I honest in my encouragement? Being an encourager doesn’t mean to lie. Others will pick up on shallow praise. At the same time, calling another to be her best self may not be easy, but it should result in the person leaning into Jesus, not away from Him.
You know, Christianity wouldn’t be nearly as challenging if we didn’t have to deal with human beings! But we are called to come together, loving one another as He has loved us. Does that sound impossible? Start small if you have to. Find someone this week who needs a smile and give her yours. You just might find it downright rewarding.
‘It doesn’t happen all at once,’ said the Skin Horse. ‘You become. It takes a long time. That’s why it doesn’t happen often to people who break easily, or have sharp edges, or who have to be carefully kept. Generally, by the time you are Real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out and you get loose in the joints and very shabby. But these things don’t matter at all, because once you are Real you can’t be ugly, except to people who don’t understand.’”
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