To Encourage You

Philemon 4-5 “I thank my God always when I remember you in my prayers, because I hear of your love and of the faith that you have toward the Lord Jesus and for all the saints”

One of the things that the Scriptures call believers to do in their relationships with other believers is to “encourage one another and build one another up” (1 Thessalonians 5:11). So, if you are a believer, are you doing this?  Do you think about it? Do you look for such opportunities?  Thankfully, the Bible doesn’t just make commands of believers, it typically shows us how to put those commands into practice in very practical ways. One such example is in Paul’s address to Philemon in the verses above. In the epistle to Philemon, Paul’s primary purpose was to make an appeal to Philemon on behalf of Onesimus, Philemon’s runaway slave that Paul had met in Rome and led to Christ.  As he begins his letter, he encourages Philemon greatly in the Lord. So, how does he do this?  He tells him that he is regularly praying for him.  He tells him that in these prayers he includes thanks to God for Philemon’s godly character.  Specifically, he tells him how he has heard through the grapevine some wonderful things about him – of his love and the faith that he had toward the Lord Jesus and all the saints.  With this we have an example of how we can encourage one another and build each other up. 

One of the ways Paul demonstrated that we can do this is to take time to pray for one another.  We should take time each day in our prayer life to focus our attention on other believers. We can pray for them in so many ways.  We can pray about any trials they are facing. We can pray for their growth in the faith. We can pray that God would help them to live a life of godly obedience. And we can pray for opportunities to bless and encourage them. But beyond this, like Paul, we can tell them that we are praying for them. We can do this personally, or write a personal note. In this age of technology, we have so many ways to communicate with one another. How much of that communication is the sharing of jokes, political debate, and other things all relatively insignificant compared to the wonderful opportunity to communicate encouragement in Christ.  And not only can we tell them we are praying for them in one way or another, but we can, like Paul, encourage them with acknowledgements of the evidence that we and others have seen and appreciate regarding their obedience and growth in the faith. 

Have you ever told anyone something like this? Have you ever had anyone else tell you such a thing?  If so, you know how wonderfully encouraging it can be.  In just a few words we can greatly encourage one another and lift each other up. May God give us the wisdom to make the most of the many opportunities He gives us to do such things.   May God help us to pray for and act toward one another in such wonderful ways.