Encouraging through Action

Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.
- 1 Thessalonians 5:11

My eight-year-old, Camden, arrived home from school yesterday, excited to share something that happened on the bus.

“Mom, guess what?” he began, a smile on his face.

“What?”

“On the bus this afternoon, I heard one kid telling another kid about Jesus. The kid that was listening believed that Jesus died on the cross, but he didn’t believe He rose again or that He died so our sins could be forgiven, so the first kid was telling him all about it. It was really neat!”

I had to agree. It’s always exciting to see someone living for God, serving Him, pleasing Him, whether that person is 5 or 85.

We have many opportunities to encourage and build each other up — through our words, through offering help and hospitality, through prayer. But there’s another way we encourage fellow Christians, and that is by living out our faith in front of them. When I see a woman being patient and loving toward her children, I am encouraged to do the same. When I see someone using their gifts and passions to serve God wholeheartedly, I am built up, amazed at the sight of God’s plan in action. And when my son saw someone sharing God’s love with a friend, he was encouraged, too. It made him want to look for opportunities to share his own faith, and gave him a little prod to continue following Christ in his everyday life.

Who can you encourage and build up today, simply by living for God in their presence? I think it all starts at home. We encourage our children in their love for God when our own love for Him is evident and genuine. We build up our husbands in Christ when we use the time and energy He has given us to serve Him. Our circles of influence stretch beyond the walls of our homes as well. Friends, extended family members, neighbors, fellow church-goers — imagine the great spiral of encouragement we can create when we are all committed to expressing our faith through action!

Today, I want to encourage and build up other Christians. I want to act in such a way that motivates them to follow God a little more closely. I want to live the kind of life that makes someone say, “Guess what? I saw someone living for God today and it was really neat.” How about you?