Tag: 1 thessalonians 5:11

Lifting Each Other Up

1 Thessalonians 5:11 “Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing.”

COVID hit us all hard. It hit us in waves that came crashing down on our lives. First the original strain hit us in 2020. We scrambled and adjusted and hunkered down for months and then slowly but surely things started to get better. The constant fear started to subside but at the end of 2020 and into 2021 the Delta variant hit us. This time we were better prepared, and we knew what to do to get through it. And just when we thought everything was back to “normal”, boom! The Omicron variant came to town at the end of 2021.

These ups and downs are similar to the ups and downs of our emotions as we go through life. Something happens in your life, like a sickness, a divorce, the loss of a job, an argument with your family, and you scramble and adjust and hunker down. Slowly but surely things start to get better…back to normal. Then just when you think everything under control, boom…another wave hits.

These ups and downs happen to everyone but when it is happening to you it is hard to know what to do. It is hard to look up and ask for help. But it is harder to go it alone. In Galatians 6:2 it says, “Carry each other’s burdens and so you will fulfill the law of Christ.”  There are people around you that want to help carry your burdens. There are people around you that want to pray for you and pour the love of Jesus into you. Prayer is a powerful tool and asking for prayer takes courage, but it will bring you comfort and peace. James 5:6 says, “Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.”

Life is difficult when you try to do it alone. We were made for community. Ecclesiastes 4:9-10 says, “Two people are better off than one, for they can help each other succeed. If one person falls, the other can reach out and help. But someone who falls alone is in real trouble.” Look for a community of people that will build you up, fill you up with the Holy Spirit, and encourage you to grow your relationship with Christ, your savior.

Dear Lord, thank you for sending people into my life that will stand in the gap with me when I am feeling low and help me to be that person for someone else. Encourage me to seek out a community of like-minded people that will pour your love into my life. Amen.

Encouraging Words for Your Soul

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

Yesterday as I was walking through Kroger to get a few things for my sister in laws birthday, a gentleman stopped me to share a few words of encouragement with me. I was shocked. All I could think at first was, how did he know I needed to hear those words? How did he know I needed those exact words of encouragement to keep going another day? How did he know that I was feeling tired and out of sorts and needed. . .God. That is how he knew. God knew. God sent me a sweet word of encouragement through a total stranger.

Has that ever happened to you? Have you received a word from a total stranger that encouraged you and turned your day around? Or have you been led to speak words of encouragement to someone you did not know? It is such an amazing gift, no matter what side you are on, the giver or the receiver. Proverbs 16:24 says, “Kind words are like honey – Sweet to the soul and healthy for the body.” An encouraging word offered at the right moment can be the difference between a good day and a bad day, between finishing the race and collapsing, or even between life and death.

1 Thessalonians 5:11 says, “Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.” It can not get any clearer than that. We are called to encourage one another. We are called to build each other up. We are the hands and feet of Jesus here on Earth and when you feel that nudge to speak words of encouragement to someone…anyone…do it. The words will be sweet to their soul and your soul.

Lord, thank you for encouraging words. Help me to be sensitive to others needs and give me the courage to speak encouraging words to those whom you place my path. Amen.