Encourage Others

1 Thessalonians 5:11

Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.

Encourage others. Nice words – but do we truly follow them? I was a baller when I was younger. One of the things I learned on a playground on Addison Road in Seat Pleasant and later – on the playgrounds of Annapolis and the courts at some of the housing developments – was to get into the head of your opponent. Trash talking was a must. Anything you could say to get into their heads – make them doubt their game – was fair game. It wasn’t about encouraging them – it was about making them doubt themselves. To encourage the opponent on the court might be giving them an advantage. If you allow a lesser opponent to stick around by encouraging their game – they just might beat you.

Encourage others. Nice words – but do we truly follow them? We live in a competitive world and society. Phrases like dog eat dog – do unto others before they do unto you – hit or be hit and the strongest survive are what many live by these days. At times – it seems that we need to get over someone else for that promotion or job. We often seem to be faced with a cutthroat business world. To encourage someone striving for the same prize might be counterproductive. I mean – would we really want to encourage someone and allow them to get the position we’re striving to get?

Encourage others. Nice words – but do we truly follow them? Even in the ministry – among colleagues – encouragement is not as common as it should be. Instead of rejoicing when someone has a successful ministry project or does something unique in ministry – often we immediately turn the conversation to what we have accomplished or have planned. It seems that the art of encouragement seems to need a boast – even among those who should be encouragers.

Encourage One Another

1 Thessalonians 5:11

Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.

Encourage one another. Nice words – but do we truly follow them? I was a baller when I was younger. One of the things I learned on a playground on Addison Road in Seat Pleasant and later – on the playgrounds of Annapolis and the courts at some of the housing developments – was to get into the head of your opponent. Trash talking was a must. Anything you could say to get into their heads – make them doubt their game was fair game. It wasn’t about encouraging them – it was about making them doubt themselves. To encourage the opponent on the court might be giving them an advantage. If you allow a lesser opponent to stick around by encouraging their game – they might just beat you.

Encourage one another. Nice words – but do we truly follow them? We live in a competitive world and society. Phrases like dog eat dog – do unto others before they do unto you – hit or be hit and the strongest survive are what many live by these days. At times – it seems that we need to get over someone else for that promotion or job. We often seem to be faced with a cutthroat business world. To encourage someone striving for the same prize might be counterproductive. I mean – would we really want to encourage someone and allow them to get the position we’re striving to get?