Encouraging Others || 08.06.2022

Hebrews 24-25a says: “We should think about each other to see how we can encourage each other to show love and do good works. We must not quit meeting together, as some are doing. No, we need to keep encouraging each other.”

We need to learn how to encourage each other to show love and do good work. What can that mean for us? We need to show others what it means to love like Christ. Jesus told us that we need to love each other as He loved us. This command can be shown through our words, whether it’s a phone call, a text message, a Facebook message, or a letter in the mail. We tell others the words of encouragement, care, and love that God has shown us. We can also show this command through our actions. We could take a meal over to someone who has been having a rough time, we could offer to take them to a place that they need to go, we could go over to be with them, and the list goes on. Again, this shows the encouragement, care, and love that Jesus shows us.

Notice too that you cannot make this level of encouragement yourself. The author states that we shouldn’t quit meeting together. We’ve been through bouts of separation and isolation through the pandemic. However, as my Pastor states at the start of every church service, the Holy Spirit keeps us together. The number of ways that I’ve seen people connect with people when we can’t connect physically is astonishing. I know it’s not everyone’s cup of tea to connect digitally, but we’ve still come up with ways to connect. Life can be more accessible when we do life together, which means doing life with Christ and doing life with the body of Christ. Jesus guides us through life, but the body of Christ is there to support and encourage us through life. Jesus can tell us what to do, and the body encourages us to stay on the path that Christ is guiding us through.

This passage ends with us needing to encourage each other. I know this is backward to my usual style, but let’s define encouragement. Encouragement is the act of giving someone support, confidence, or hope. As we hear today’s message and go through our week, let’s remember to give support to those who need it. Let’s remember to give confidence to those that need it. Let’s remember to give hope to those that need it. Jesus gives us all of that and more and shows us that we can do it without fear. Amen.