Be a Sonbeam not a Stormcloud I

Ever meet someone who could not say something positive to save their life? They gripe, complain, say negative things, or all the above. The Bible tells us to exhort one another.

Let’s first look at the definition of exhort. Webster’s 1828 defines exhort as, “to encourage, to embolden (To give boldness or courage; to encourage), to cheer, to advise. The primary sense seems to be to excite or to give strength, spirit or courage.”

In today’s world, we seem to have an abundance of people that do part of this definition, “advise.” There are advisors everywhere, but most of the time, people do not want advice. I am guilty of this sometimes. I have to catch myself and ask, “Does this person with whom I am speaking really wish to hear my advice right now?” Many times, I have to admit, the answer is “no,” so I stop the my advice giving and change the conversation. People want and need encouragement.

Giving words of encouragement, strengthening, and cheer seems to be a lost art. Prayerfully, this will encourage us to be Sonbeams and exhort those around us.

Heb. 3:13 “…exhort one another daily, while it is called To day; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.”

Heb. 10:25 “…exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.”

James 4:17 “Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.”

Think about this scenario. If a parent tells a child to do something and the child does not do it, the child is being disobedient. Now, put that thought on a spiritual level. There are many things in the Bible that God commands his children to do and if we do not, we know it is sin. Many sins are obvious, even to the world. There is a big list in Galatians 5:19-22. But this article focuses on something that is not so obvious, exhorting one another.

In the above verses, it says to exhort one another. God gives us a command. If we are not exhorting one another, then we are disobeying God. If we disobey God, what does God call disobedience? “Sin!” I know this may seem simplistic in explanation, but I had not thought of “not exhorting” as a sin, until writing this article. I was pondering exhortation and the verses with it, and then someone said something, and the light bulb came on in my head. I love those moments when God pulls his Word together so nicely in one’s thoughts. So, if we are not encouraging others, we are sinning because God has commanded us to “exhort one another daily.”

In a time when we need encouragement, it seems less encouragement is being given. I do not think it is because we do not care, but because we are so busy. It is a shame that we have become so busy that we cannot encourage one another. Our encouragement could be just the thing to lift someone’s spirits, to put a smile in someone’s heart, to keep someone from quitting church, or just to help someone make it through a truly tough day.

Now, we understand God commands us to exhort one another and if we do not, it is sin. Since I believe exhorting is a lost art, I think we need to visit some broad concepts on how to encourage others.

First, we have to work at. For some people, encouraging others comes extremely easy. I love being around people that are cheery, smiling, and praising the Lord no matter what is going on in their life. They are a big encouragement to me. But those people are hard to find. That should not be the case with Christians. We all get down, have troubles, and go through tough times. But, we do not have to be a Stormcloud to others around us. Make it a challenge to yourself, if you have to, to encourage someone today or this week. With the Lord’s help, we can all be Sonbeams. Remember, work at it.
Second, go out of the way to exhort someone. We ordinarily can encourage those in our “social” group. But, this point means for us to get out of our comfort zone and find someone to encourage that we normally would not communicate with. Jesus went out of his way to the Samaritan woman at the well. John 4:4 “And he must needs go through Samaria.” What about going to the person in church who is less fortunate than most or someone that is not in a “social” group at all? There are many people in churches that come and go and have no one ever takes an interest in them. What about getting to know them better? Then one would know how to be an encouragement to them. Like Jesus going to the Samaritan woman, this would be going out of the way. Set time aside, even if it is just a few minutes, and go out of the way to send a little cheer to someone.
Just say, “Thanks.” Encouragees need to simply thank encouragers. Brief definition: The encourager is the one giving the encouragement. The encouragee is the receiver of the encouragement. Resist the urge to shrug off the gift, card, or whatever someone does. Resist saying something like, “Oh, you did not have to do that or that was not necessary.” Just say, “Thanks.” Or “This was very kind of you.” Or “How nice of you.” The Lord laid it upon someone’s heart to do something nice. Accept it in a thankful, gracious manner. This will actually be an encouragement for the encourager. I have seen encouragees get mad that someone did something nice for them. This leaves the encourager feeling miserable inside and less likely to help others. While we are encouraging one others, we need to receive encouragement with kindness as well. So, just say, “Thanks.”