Stay Encouraged 2

As I have stated earlier, staying encouraged is a major job. It is a job worth working at.  It is also a job that we should do for others.

Building up people is a reason the church exist.  I know that at times the church is distracted, trying to survive, meet budgets, solve problems, be relevant.  It is easy on both a personal level and a community level to get a narrow busy focus.  We can be so busy with all our stuff that we fail to care for others. 

Jesus was a busy man, but seemed not to be in a hurry.  By following the Father, Jesus was free to care for every person the Father led Him to.  Jesus was not frantically trying to accomplish the Fathers will for His life.  Jesus was encourage by the Father and lived out the will of the Father moment by moment.

Most of us will not come close to fulfilling our calling if we are not both encouraged by others and encouraging others.  Investing in people should be a normal part of everyday life.  We should not just use people to accomplish our agenda, but help others accomplish their agenda.  Helping others is to be seen as a basic form of Christlikeness.  Think of that.  Helping others is success.

Unless God directs you otherwise, you need to get into a community of people that can build you up and allow you to invest in them.  You need to be a part of a living community that has room for you.  I don’t desire that you spend a day, let along a decade, watching life go by.  Become a part of a group, a team, a community that is relational.

The Bible informs those of us who want friends to be friendly.  Sow the seeds you desire and reap the rewards.  Give away the very thing you want and discover how the Lord brings back to you what you need too.  What I am trying to say is that you cannot just expect others to build you up without being a part of building others up yourself.    It is more blessed to give than to receive and you need not worry about giving away what you do not have as long as you freely give, what you do have. 

Jesus had a group of disciples.  He also had an inner circle of friends, one of which is called the “beloved”.  We all need someone who will invest in us.  It is right that we confess this need and look for God’s plan of fulfilling it.