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7 Words Of Encouragement From The Bible

7 Words Of Encouragement From The Bible

Last updated on: May 25, 2016 at 9:58 am by Jack Wellman

7 Words Of Encouragement From The Bible 2016-05-25T09:58:05-05:00 Jack Wellman

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Here are seven words of encouragement from men in the Bible.

First Thessalonians 5:11 “Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing.”

The Apostle Paul was an encourager, to be sure, but he wanted the church at Thessalonica to be encouraging one another and asked them “to respect those who labor among you and are over you in the Lord and admonish you” (1st Thess 5:12) but also to “encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with them all” (1st Thess 5:14). That is what we should be doing. We ought to be building up others, encouraging them, and exhorting them…both those we know in the church but also those who are presently outside of the household of faith.

Acts 27:36 “Then they all were encouraged and ate some food themselves.”

The ship that Paul and 276 other were onboard were thinking that they were going to die as the ship was poised to crash into the rocks on the shore but the Apostle Paul said, “I urge you to take some food. For it will give you strength, for not a hair is to perish from the head of any of you” (Acts 27:34). Apparently God had spoken to Paul and told him that they would not die but that every life onboard the ship would be saved. How encouraging that must have been for Paul to tell them that “not a hair is to perish from the head of any of you” so he encouraged them and they finally ate after fasting and praying for two weeks!

Romans 15:4 “For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.”

As we have previously read, Paul was a strong encourager and to the church at Rome, he prayed, “May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus, that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Rom 15:5-6). That’s the point; we are to encourage one another and live in harmony with others so that “with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Joshua 1:5-6 “No man shall be able to stand before you all the days of your life. Just as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not leave you or forsake you. Be strong and courageous, for you shall cause this people to inherit the land that I swore to their fathers to give them.”

We know we’re to encourage one another, but here is God Himself encouraging Joshua who had just taken over for Moses and God tells him that He will never forsake him so “Be strong and courageous.” When we encourage others, we are trying to make them more courageous and our words have great meaning in this way; we can either strengthen them by encouragement or we can take and stomp on their courage by discouraging them. God reminds Joshua to “be strong and very courageous, being careful to do according to all the law that Moses my servant commanded you. Do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may have good success wherever you go” (Joshua 1:7). We have a choice to make.

First Thessalonians 2:12 “We exhorted each one of you and encouraged you and charged you to walk in a manner worthy of God, who calls you into his own kingdom and glory.”

Paul didn’t pull punches. He encouraged the church to walk in a manner worthy of our calling by God and to strengthen those who are discouraged, “Therefore encourage one another with these words” (1st Thess 4:18). To encourage in this case is to encourage them to continue to live lives that are pleasing to God and to live in a way that reflects our calling by God. It is less than encouraging when we see professing Christians not living like Christians so we must encourage them to live holy lives (not perfect) so that others might see Christ in them.

Ezekiel 13:22 “Because you have disheartened the righteous falsely, although I have not grieved him, and you have encouraged the wicked, that he should not turn from his evil way to save his life.”

Here is God rebuking the prophets of Israel for not encouraging the nation to turn away from their wickedness. It is a costly price to pay for not encouraging them to turn back to God and “from his evil way to save his life.” There is no shortage of false prophets today and tragically, they don’t speak about repentance, sin, confession, lives of holiness, or turning from sin, therefore God’s judgment is against them and will require it at their hands someday. All they want is to draw crowds after them and speak pleasant words but the fact is soft words create hard hearts while hard words soften hearts.

Philippians 2:1-2 “So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind.”

The Book of Philippians has been called “the joy epistle” because this church may have been Paul’s favorite. He was so encouraged by their generosity and graciousness. He is telling the church (and by extension, us) that we need to encourage one another in Christ, in love, in affection, in sympathy, and having the same mind in love, we “complete [his] joy.” That also gives God great joy when we are unified as one and encouraging one another.

Conclusion

I hope you can find a person today and encourage them, whether they are in Christ or not. It doesn’t matter because we are to be encouragers to all whom we meet. There is already enough discouragement in this world, so be a glass-half-full person and not glass-half-empty. In fact, just be thankful you even have a glass!

Article by Jack Wellman

Jack Wellman is Pastor of the Mulvane Brethren Church in Mulvane Kansas. Jack is also the Senior Writer at What Christians Want To Know whose mission is to equip, encourage, and energize Christians and to address questions about the believer’s daily walk with God and the Bible. You can follow Jack on Google Plus or check out his book Teaching Children the Gospel available on Amazon.

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