“We sent Timothy, who is our brother and God's fellow worker in spreading the gospel of Christ, to strengthen and encourage you in your faith,”

I Thessalonians 3: 2

“Therefore encourage each other with these words.”

I Thessalonians 4: 18

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

I Thessalonians 5: 11

“And we urge you, brothers, warn those who are idle, encourage the timid, help the weak, be patient with everyone.”

I Thessalonians 5: 14 ( NIV )

What is the common word in all of these scripture verses? If you have read them at all carefully, you know that the word is “encourage”. Take a minute and think about the last time that you encouraged a fellow Christian. If you are like me, you may be rather hard- pressed to remember the last time, and if you can recall being an encourager, your list may be rather short. Since I am a teacher, you may think that handing out encouragement is something that I do routinely. I will admit that I do encourage my students, but I also deliver my fair share of criticism.

The concordance in my Bible lists 62 scripture verses that contain some form of the word encourage. It lists one reference to the word criticism, and that is II Corinthians 8: 20 which says, “ We want to avoid any criticism of the way we administer this liberal gift”. It sure seems that our God wants us to do a lot of encouraging and very little criticizing. Earlier I asked you to remember being an encourager. Is it easier for you to remember the last time you were critical of someone? Criticism comes so easily. Things like–“ that person is too young to know anything,” “ those old people just hold the Church back,” “the music is too fast or too slow,”“ the sermons are too long,” “ the Church is too cold,” “ there isn't enough parking” or ¼ You get the idea.

A few years ago, Dick gave a sermon about thinking of someone who had made a positive impact on our lives and then letting them know how they had encouraged us. That sermon spurred me to action, and I went home and wrote a letter to Millard Ludwig. In that letter I simply let him know that he had influenced me greatly during my high school years. Millard genuinely thanked me for the letter, and we had some great conversations because of it.

As we travel through these days of Lent, let me encourage you to find someone who has helped you in your Christian walk and get in touch with that person to let him or her know how they have impacted your life.

STEVE SMITH