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Concerning the spiritual discipline of encouragement…
This is a hard discipline for most of for two reasons.
1. Our personal stories - it’s full of disappointment, hurt, anger, abuse, and shame. How does one overcome that to BE an encourager for someone else?
2. Our immaturity - it takes someone with some level of maturity to see past the obvious failures and rough edges to what God is doing inside someone else. It’s easy to critique the shell, harder to see through it to where God works. Easier to question someone elses motives and intentions than to lifewalk with them through issues to get a glimpse of the working of the Holy.
Which obstacle is/has been harder for you to overcome?
2 responses so far ↓
1 Mimi // Oct 31, 2005 at 5:14 pm
I just learned a great truth this week that speaks to “our personal stories of hurt and abuse”.
God remembers His promises and covenants to us and acts on them. He “probably” remembers our sin (because He is God) but chooses not to act on it. He chooses to remember what Jesus did instead and His action is grace.
Can we likewise remember our past and yet choose not to act upon our hurt or abuse but execute grace and encouragement to those who have hurt us? Not easy to do!
2 Buggy-Buggy // Nov 1, 2005 at 8:09 am
Don’t know if it’s an either/or. For me, at times, it’s a both/and. Sometimes I can’t get past my own hurts, then there’s the people I DON’T want to encourage. They hurt me!! Why would I want to encourage them? Hmmmm! I’m not supposed to do either, am I? STINK!!
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