What are we talking about when we talk about encouragement? Most people associate encouragement with flattery or compliments or trite little expressions like: Oh you look nice today or Have a nice day, or Take care. Thats not what encouragement is. Those expressions are fine, nothing wrong with them, but they are not Biblical encouragement. Encouragement means to put courage in. Isnt that a great concept? I encourage a fellow human being when I instill in his or her heart courage to face the world, thats encouragement. The Greek root word translated encourage in our New Testament is paracollatos, the verb form of the noun, paraclete. Paraclete which means to lay alongside. Jesus said there will be a comforter. Some translations use the word encourager who will come alongside you for the purpose of building up your life. (John 14) He was referring, of course, to the coming of the Holy Spirit, and that is exactly what the Spirit does. His Spirit lays alongside our Spirit to encourage us. Paracollatos is used 109 times in the New Testament. Most of the time its translated encourage, sometimes exhort, sometimes comfort, but put all together you get the biblical idea of encouragement. One mans definition says, Encouragement is the expression to help someone become a better Christian when life is rough. Thats what encouragement is; thats putting courage in the heart.
Posted on: Sat, 08 Mar 2014 02:37:36 +0000
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