May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus, that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Romans 15:5-6

When we think of God’s and holiness (His perfection and sinlessness), we can find it hard to believe that God would have anything to say to us but criticism and scolding. But as we saw last time, God is the God of encouragement. When Jesus promised that He would send another comforter, the Holy Spirit, the word he used was someone who comes alongside of us– an encourager.

And the God of encouragement wants to use each of us as His representatives of encouragement to those we come in contact with…to be in each other’s lives, to strengthen one another to keep going, keep believing, keep depending on Jesus, to finish the course God has set before us, to live out His plan for our lives.

So, how do we encourage one another? How do we make encouragement happen? What do we say? There are 3 building blocks about encouraging we can learn from Paul in the context of “Encourage one another and build each other up” (1 Thes 5:1).

1. All our encouragement is built on one unshakable foundation: Jesus rescued us (vv 9-11). Our encouragement can never be separated from Jesus, because if it weren’t for Jesus, our lives would be nothing but a collision course. If death just means ‘The End’ as secularism teaches—if death meant that God’s wrath was what awaits us as religion teaches— then any encouragement would be meaningless platitudes with no real power behind it.

Paul says, “THEREFORE encourage each other” because God has not destined us for ‘The End’ and he hasn’t saved us just to face His future wrath. He saved us to go to the place Jesus has prepared for us, where we’ll be with Him for all eternity (Jn 14:1-4). There is no greater encouragement possible. Encouragement is built on this Good News foundation. 

2. Encouragement begins by identifying the work of God in one another’s lives. Paul begins His letter by identifying the activity of God in them (1:4-7). Remember, 1 Thessalonians wasn’t written to perfect people. Read the letter—they’ve got issues. But again and again Paul identifies God’s work in their lives and uses this as a platform to encourage them in the Lord.

3. Encouragement begins by being genuine, not by being hypocritical. We need to excel in looking for and pointing out to others where God is at work in their lives. If you and I are Christians, God is always at work in our lives. So the question isn’t “Why isn’t God at work in my life?” or “Why isn’t God at work in your life?” He’s always at work in our lives (Phil 1:6). 

The question is “Why don’t you and I see where God is at work in our lives?” There are many reasons, but the one relevant to our topic today is that we don’t see God’s work in us because the believers around us aren’t pointing it out. Just the opposite. The believers around us (including ourselves) are often pointing out our failings and shortcomings.

Now ‘blindness to how God is at work in our lives’ is often a form of unbelief…it’s a way that the enemy bullies us and discourages us…so it shouldn’t be our normal state. But how consoling it is when someone else helps us maintain our awareness and faith in what God is doing in us…and does so with discernment, not simply spouting off some tired Christian platitudes, but speaking affirmations based on what they see God doing in and through us.

That’s why you and I are called to encourage one another and build each other up. It makes a difference in the lives of the people we come in contact with. It’s ministering to a real need we all have. And it’s the real unity that Jesus prayed for us (Jn 17:21).