Check out what this series is all about here.
Yesterday, while discussing the "who" of encouragement, I asked this convicting question:
How often do you head into Sunday morning worship or Sunday school or Bible study or small group thinking about how you can encourage other believers gathering there?
The question convicts because we're not always thinking about ministering, are we? With all of the demands and burdens of life, most of the time we're hoping, consciously or not, that someone will notice and care for us. Which leads well into the "when and where" of encouragement. When and where should we be encouraging others?
The short answer: whenever and wherever you meet together!
Whenever and wherever we meet, especially with fellow believers, we can seize the opportunity to encourage one another. Whether we find ourselves in a large group or are hanging out with one friend over coffee, we need to develop an encouragement habit - that would be having an attitude of ministry, all the time. Does that remind you of anyone you know? Sunday School answer time, right here. Yep. Jesus!
He said to his disciples, recorded in Matthew 20:26-28,
"Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave— just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many."
And Paul says about Him in Philippians 2:5-8, inviting us to copy Him,
In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus:
Who, being in very nature God,
did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage;
rather, he made himself nothing
by taking the very nature of a servant,
being made in human likeness.
And being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled himself
by becoming obedient to death—
even death on a cross!
Our Lord lived the ministry of encouragement and showed us the way. He relied on the Holy Spirit to fill Him up and He spoke regularly with the Father. As a result, He considered others all the time. When we died on the cross, He gave us always-access to the Father through faith, and when we ascended, He sent the Holy Spirit to fill us. We can rely on the Spirit and we can speak regularly with the Father, becoming people who look like Christ in the world: considering others and encouraging one another - whenever and wherever opportunity arises.
We're well on our way to the "hows" of doing this, so stick around for more!
I am so thankful you spend time here with me.
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