Christian Sisters Encouraging One Another
Joshua
1:9 – Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do
not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.
These are words of comfort that can never be altered; and
regardless of what stage of life we are in, even if our own cares seem
insurmountable, we can share this scripture. There is so much power in
Christian sisters encouraging one another, a power that transcends our own
minuscule thought patterns and guides us to look beyond those things that we
allow to cloud our world and helps us to reach out to those that need our love
and reassurance. It is in the nature of all of us to be
selfish and want to put our own needs and desires before others. The Bible gives clear direction, however, on our need to give
glory to God by helping others in need. God commands
us to love others
So, how do we encourage one another?
Empathize: our ability
to emphasize starts by our ability to be with those who are suffering – not in
passing judgment for we have all made mistakes, we have all sinned and fallen
short--Romans 3:23. If we admit it, there have been times that when someone came
to us for help, instead of placing emphasis on what they were going through; we
saw a chance to become a pseudo psychologist. Chances are we didn’t verbally
express our thoughts, but they were there just the same. Remember this person
sought you out because she felt that she could trust you with her dreams,
worries, fears and what was important to her. Did you let her down by promoting
yourself to the center of attraction? Given another opportunity, will you push
her aside also to become the limelight?
Need: we are told
to bear one another’s burdens--Galatians 6:2, but this requires taking self out
of the way. It is our responsibility to help a sister in need. Our willingness
to help our physical family with its needs shows our love for our family. The
same is true of our spiritual family. When we see our Christian sister in need,
we are commanded to do what we can to help her. Christians must show love with
both works and deeds. James tells us about true religion in James 1:27 - Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this:
to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from
being polluted by the world. This is in direct correlation with how we should
treat our sisters in need. No lip service here as John says in 1 John 3:18 -
let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth. Sometimes
the only need our sister has is to know that someone loves her, and John pleads
with us in 1 John 4:7-8 to let us love one another, for love comes from God.
Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God,
because God is love.
Compassion:
as Christians, we are to follow Christ; it is easy to show compassion to some
people, especially those that we like, or those that we can manipulate, or
those that are nice to us and we all have people in our lives that we struggle
to show compassion to. Does that excuse us from doing so? We are told to do
good to all people especially those of the household of faith--Galatians 6:10.
But I am sure that there are those who treat their sisters in Christ with contempt
while holding their worldly friends very dear. However, we are told to hold
each other dear as Paul states in 1 Corinthians 12:25-26 that there should be
no schism in the body; but that the members should have the same care one for
another. And whether one
member suffers, all the members suffer with it; or one member be honored, all
the members rejoice with it. Suffering with your sister in Christ most
certainly requires a degree of compassion. A lot of time it takes putting
ourselves in her place to understand how she is feeling as so aptly put in 1
Corinthians 9:22 to the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I
have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save
some. Having compassion also means being able to identify with what our sister
is going through. We may not have experienced the very same thing, but I can
guarantee you that whatever we experienced were not so far off the mark that we
cannot show a measure of compassion. After all, we have all experienced life!
Optimal: optimal is
commonly associated with financial strategy and getting the greatest amount of
returns from investments. How so much more can we be optimal Christians – what
is our investment? Doing the Lord’s work! And in that, nothing can compare to
the return on our investment – eternal life with the Lord! We should be the
optimal illuminators of this world as found in Philippians 2:15 so that you may
become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a warped and
crooked generation. Then you will shine among them like stars in the sky. Being
an optimal Christian involves obedience; part of obedience is serving others.
What we do for others, we do for the Lord. We are obedient to God by serving
others; we love God by loving others. Galatians 5:13 lets
us know that we were called to freedom.
Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love
serve one another.
Understanding: as Christian sisters, we need to understand how to treat each other and the Bible is very straightforward on that point; do to others as you would have them do to you – Luke 6:31. And again in Matthew 7:12 - so in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets. We also need to be more tolerant of our sisters. We may get tired of her always asking for prayers for her marriage, her family, her children, or her employment situation. But have you ever considered that she just might not be as strong as you are; she may not know how to handle the situations she has gotten herself into (and yes, you’ve gotten yourself into some situations also-we all have), and you know what, she might be tired of your “I’ve got it going on attitude!” Instead of adopting an air of superiority, adopt one of understanding as exhibited in Psalm 119:130 The entrance of thy words giveth light; it giveth understanding unto the simple and simple refers to a lack of knowledge on any given subject. Understanding is inclusive of kindness, so put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, long-suffering--Colossians 3:12; wherefore receive ye one another, as Christ also received us to the glory of God--Romans 15:7; Be of the same mind one toward another. Mind not high things, but condescend to men of low estate. Be not wise in your own conceits--Romans 12:6, and finally, be ye all of one mind, having compassion one of another, love as brethren, be pitiful, be courteous--1 Peter 3:8.
Understanding: as Christian sisters, we need to understand how to treat each other and the Bible is very straightforward on that point; do to others as you would have them do to you – Luke 6:31. And again in Matthew 7:12 - so in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets. We also need to be more tolerant of our sisters. We may get tired of her always asking for prayers for her marriage, her family, her children, or her employment situation. But have you ever considered that she just might not be as strong as you are; she may not know how to handle the situations she has gotten herself into (and yes, you’ve gotten yourself into some situations also-we all have), and you know what, she might be tired of your “I’ve got it going on attitude!” Instead of adopting an air of superiority, adopt one of understanding as exhibited in Psalm 119:130 The entrance of thy words giveth light; it giveth understanding unto the simple and simple refers to a lack of knowledge on any given subject. Understanding is inclusive of kindness, so put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, long-suffering--Colossians 3:12; wherefore receive ye one another, as Christ also received us to the glory of God--Romans 15:7; Be of the same mind one toward another. Mind not high things, but condescend to men of low estate. Be not wise in your own conceits--Romans 12:6, and finally, be ye all of one mind, having compassion one of another, love as brethren, be pitiful, be courteous--1 Peter 3:8.
Reassure: we ought to
be supportive of our sisters. We need to be there for them when they are going
through rough times. Often we put them down and even more often we simply
ignore them. Often we will talk about them, but not to them. Often we will
dismiss their problems instead of helping them get through them. Often we will slowly
draw ourselves away from them instead of drawing closer to them. Many times we
will give them advice instead of giving them the Bible. Many times we will
shake or head in aversion instead of shaking their hands in love. Many times we
will give an opinion instead of the truth, and more often than not, we will
just do nothing! We need to support, uplift, soothe, bolster, comfort, and
assure our sisters that our love, through Jesus Christ will always be there!
How much more satisfaction can we have then to know that our love, our prayers,
our reassurance to our Christian sister regardless of what she is going
through, we have determined in our hearts to be there through the long haul! I
know sometimes we get weary, but there is no comparison to the gladness, the
utter joy we feel when we know that our Christian sister is being all that she
can be and we are a part of it! I know everyone has seen the MasterCard commercial
where the commentators goes through all the things that we do with a MasterCard
but the last thing, the one where we can’t use a MasterCard is also the one
that is the most “precious” – it is priceless…well, that is how we should feel
each time we practice reassurance, we are like MasterCard, the catalyst, but
Jesus the most precious gift is exposed as support of our Christian sister, and
that my sisters, is priceless!
Action: I know we’ve
all heard the saying “don’t talk the talk, if you can’t walk the walk” – guess
what, the Bible says the same thing! James 2:14-16…I know it is a slight variation
to what we are talking about today, but the meaning is still the same. We can
talk all we want about what we would like to do for a sister or sisters, but
until we put it into action, it is just that…talk! Until we “walk the walk”
we’ve done nothing but exercised our lips! I know that in every congregation there is at least one sister looking for someone that
she can open up to. And I am just as confident that there is one sister here
who knows of this and has expressed a desire to reach out, but if you haven’t
reached out and touched, then you have not truly committed yourself to the work
of encouraging your sister in Christ!
Getting Real:
how
many times have you sat and listened to a sister bashing conversation even if
you were not verbally participating? Did I hear you say never? Get real! Isn’t it
easy to put someone down, so that you won’t have to think about where you are
in life? Things like, you know: I always knew that marriage wasn’t going to
work out. Look at the way she comes up in here…I hope she doesn’t bend down!
She needs to stop looking at my man like that! She has the worse kids in this
congregation! I don’t want to get to know her; I just don’t like her! Get real! But you’ve
never given yourself a chance to get to know her…you don’t know what she might
be going through in life…you are friendly enough, but in this case, enough is
not good enough! Get
real!
Let’s see…what is the opposite of real? Fake, dishonest, false, busybody, insincere;
whatever it is, it sure isn’t real!
Encourage:
we can and all do have struggles in our lives and as Christians, we all need
encouragement. Even when things are going well, we still need encouragement. We
still need to keep seeking God and trying to please him; part of that seeking
God is our role in how we treat our sisters in Christ. 1 Thessalonians 5:11
tells us to therefore encourage one another and build each
other up, just as in fact you are doing. The command for
Christians to encourage one another is found throughout the bible. In fact,
encouragement can drastically change a person’s life! We all tend to get
distressed from time to time and need encouragement. We may get discouraged about
our marriage for instance, or lack of marriage, our children, where we are in
life or not at, or maybe we are feeling down about ourselves for some reason.
Encouraging others is being a friend, however, we need to remember that we also
have to accept people; just because they do not come in a package that we like,
does not give us the right to alienate them or just pretend they don’t exist.
Romans 15:7 tell us to accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you,
in order to bring praise to God. Philippians 2:1-4 says, so if there is any
encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the
Spirit, any affection and sympathy, complete my joy by being of the same mind,
having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. Do nothing from
rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than
yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interest, but also to the
interest of others. Now that is what encouragement is all about; let’s try
practicing it!
If you would like to view the PowerPoint presentation, please click on the document below...ENJOY!
If you would like to view the PowerPoint presentation, please click on the document below...ENJOY!
Our Gifts Are For Encouraging
Help us Lord
to see ourselves, through your loving eyes,
To see what you see in us, and to come to realize,
That everything that we possess, comes directly from you,
The gifts, the talents you’ve placed within, are there for us to use.
To reach with hope to those that hurt, to those who’ve lost their way,
It’s your gifts Lord, they’re not our own, so take them Lord we pray,
And use them for your glory, so others may be blessed,
And have their spirits lifted, and their souls also refreshed.
To see what you see in us, and to come to realize,
That everything that we possess, comes directly from you,
The gifts, the talents you’ve placed within, are there for us to use.
To reach with hope to those that hurt, to those who’ve lost their way,
It’s your gifts Lord, they’re not our own, so take them Lord we pray,
And use them for your glory, so others may be blessed,
And have their spirits lifted, and their souls also refreshed.
So they can then be challenged, to seek more after you,
To be much more empowered, for whatever they may do,
For each of us have talents, that God has placed within
So we can encourage others, to have a closer walk with Him.
And as we encourage another, we can be encouraged ourselves,
For there needs to be a continual flow, and a continual pouring out,
And as we do this we will find, insecurities will disappear
And we’ll be strengthened in His love, to overcome our fears.
© By M.S.Lowndes
(1 Thessalonians 5: 11 Amp.)
(1 Peter 4: 10-11 N.I.V.)
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