I had a chat with Tuffers yesterday about encouragement. I’ve noticed on About Life that lots of people are so encouraging, and really go straight to the point. I think that’s so brilliant.

In Romans 12, we are told that encouragement is actually a spiritual gift, “We have different gifts, according to the grace given us. If a man's gift is prophesying, let him use it in proportion to his faith. If it is serving, let him serve; if it is teaching, let him teach; if it is encouraging, let him encourage…”

But in many ways I feel that this gift has gone by the wayside somewhat in our society. I don’t know if it’s laziness, just something that’s purely overlooked, of if it’s a pride thing – that somehow by encouraging someone, you might be almost admitting that someone may be better at something than you are, so it's almost self-preserving to just not say it at all.


Some of my favourite people in the world are people who ‘speak the truth in love’ (Eph 4: 15), just like Paul tells us to. In saying they speak the truth in love, I mean that they tell me where I’m going wrong, when I’m not being all that I could be, that they love me but I need to drop the point. They tell me how a situation really is, even if it’s not what I want to hear… they know it’s what I need to hear. But also they encourage me in truth – not empty compliments, but genuine, heartfelt, constructive compliments and encouragement which, unbeknowst to them, will carry me through the next few days, weeks or even for the rest of my life.

I just feel that this life is sometimes too much about playing games – in work, in friendships, in relationships. So much seems to be too tactical. Not being honest, not being up front, not giving credit where credit’s due for fear, perhaps, of losing face. The simplest things seem to become calculated, and it almost becomes part of the fun to keep people in the dark, flailing around, wondering where they stand, what they should do next, how you feel about them…

“Look like the innocent flower, but be the serpent under it…” (Shakespeare, Macbeth Act 1 scene 5)

But how can this be constructive for the Body of Christ? In a world that’s full of so many hurts anyway, why do we, within this potentially fully-functioning and wonderful community of God on earth, play the world’s games? Why do we freely hurt one another? Not build one another up? Should we not be setting the precedent for the world, and giving people who don’t know the Gospel yet a miniscule glimpse of what heaven could be like? What better incentive to explore Christianity than seeing a family of people who, though we still fall victim to life’s pits and troughs, are still helping one another, pointing out one another’s gifts, even if that means admitting we don’t seem to possess that gift ourselves... Just encouraging one another really. Why would someone want to join a family of people who are hurting, burnt out and broken by the actions of their brothers and sisters? How can a body work when the left hand is hurting the right?

We’re given this short opportunity in this mortal coil to do the best we can, not to be perfect… that’s not for us to be. But one of the simplest things we can do is to love one another, to be fair to one another and to encourage each other and to keep the body of Christ healthy and nourished. Encouragement is like fuel, that can brighten up a bad day, and keep us going through the week...

As in the old hymn, like God, we should be "slow to chide and swift to bless." And there are fewer simpler blessings than a spot of encouragement.