Circle of Encouragement

"[E]ncourage each other daily, as long as it is called Today..." (Hebrews 3:13).

"Therefore, encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing" (I Thessalonians 5:11).

One of the best things about being a Christian is the community of family that is available to you. We have a network of "blessing-givers" that Christ established for us. Yesterday I was blessed many times by my fellow Christ-followers. That is great in and of itself, but the joy that I find in such a structure is that fact that one believer's words or actions usually create a domino effect. Here's what happened yesterday....

• One friend replied to my Bible blog e-mail message and requested prayers for the staff and students at the school at which she teaches. I also asked for her prayers about a specific matter. My e-mail blessed her, she asked for my prayers for others, and then I asked for her prayers.

• A mutual friend of mine and of the woman mentioned above e-mailed me later and thanked me for these blogs. She also asked about our friend mentioned above. I passed along the prayer request of our mutual friend. So, you see, my writing blessed her, her words of encouragement blessed me, her inquiry of our friend allowed us to both bless our friend.

• Another friend of mine is going through some hard times. I told my husband about some things she mentioned in an e-mail yesterday. His response was that we need to pray for her and these issues, especially because she has been so faithful in praying for us. Our friend blesses us with her prayers, and now we bless her with ours. Also, in this situation, my husband blessed me with a reminder that prayer is a valuable and viable weapon against Satan.

• My cousin e-mailed me yesterday, telling me she was loving a book I'd recommended to her. She was feeling very strongly the need to simply worship God. No notebooks or journals or study guides at her side. Just worship God. Well, that inspired me to listen to a worship CD while I prepared dinner last night. The Eldredges are blessing people they will probably never meet in this life with their wisdom, I blessed my cousin with the book recommendation, and she blessed me with her sharing of how the book was impacting her. And I believe the music blessed my husband when he came home from work.

• My mother-in-law (we live down the street from my in-laws) often shares her cooking with us, which is nice after long work days. And she herself works hard at the office. Yesterday I offered to bring over some of our lasagna. She then offered to contribute garlic bread to the meal. She regularly blesses us with food, we blessed her with a meal, and she blessed us with the accompanying bread. (Remember Jesus called Himself the bread of life!)

And that is just one day in the life of a Christian experiencing this circle of encouragement that is at our disposal. When I was a teacher, I told my students that if they were feeling down, one of the best "cures" was to help someone else. Whether you're feeling sad or cheery, I encourage you to encourage someone else today. Do it because God has done the same for you many, many times and will many, many more times in the future.

(Note: The book I recommended is Captivating by John and Stasi Eldredge. This is one of three books that I believe all couples should read. The other two are Wild at Heart by John Eldredge and The Five Love Languages by Gary Chapman.)