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Let Us Consider & Encourage

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hldude

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“Let Us Consider & Encourage”
By Zach Wood
Hebrews 10:24 NIV
And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds.


A few weeks ago at church, this verse was read and it really got me thinking. Sadly, I couldn’t help but to think about how terrible we’ve become today with encouraging one another. We live in a culture and society where the focus is always on me, me, me. Everything focuses on how we need to improve ourselves and better who we are. We’ve sadly become trained to think of ourselves more than we think of others so often. I’m super guilty with this and I often cringe when I think of how focused on myself I’ve become.

Throughout Scripture, we find so many references to how God wants us to reach out and help encourage others. We know we should, but we get so wrapped up and busy with our own lives that we often just neglect the calling God has given us each and every day to invest in other’s lives. And really, it doesn’t always have to be in really big ways. Big ways are good to help out for sure! However, God also wants us to help others in small ways. Simple compliments. Noticing things about others that most people don’t. Words of encouragement in so many little ways can make a huge difference.

“Let us consider”. Think about those words. How often do we really stop and consider how we can encourage other people? Do we really consider how we can help others become closer to God? Are we focused on being the light of Christ to others all through our day? Are we making it a point to spread the Good News?

“Let us consider”. Think about these words in a different light now. How about we consider all the opportunities we are passing up by being absorbed in our own lives. Ouch! That makes me cringe. How often are we so wrapped up in our destinations and all that we have to do that we completely neglect opportunities right in front of us? All too often!

We should even take this a step further. How about we not only consider, but we actually……DO! So often we say we’ll thinking about that or think about this with very little intention of actually doing it. Let us consider how we may encourage others around us.

Let us make it a point and put forth more effort to consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds as God has commanded us to.
 
“Let Us Consider & Encourage”
By Zach Wood
Hebrews 10:24 NIV
And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds.


A few weeks ago at church, this verse was read and it really got me thinking. Sadly, I couldn’t help but to think about how terrible we’ve become today with encouraging one another. We live in a culture and society where the focus is always on me, me, me. Everything focuses on how we need to improve ourselves and better who we are. We’ve sadly become trained to think of ourselves more than we think of others so often. I’m super guilty with this and I often cringe when I think of how focused on myself I’ve become.

Throughout Scripture, we find so many references to how God wants us to reach out and help encourage others. We know we should, but we get so wrapped up and busy with our own lives that we often just neglect the calling God has given us each and every day to invest in other’s lives. And really, it doesn’t always have to be in really big ways. Big ways are good to help out for sure! However, God also wants us to help others in small ways. Simple compliments. Noticing things about others that most people don’t. Words of encouragement in so many little ways can make a huge difference.

“Let us consider”. Think about those words. How often do we really stop and consider how we can encourage other people? Do we really consider how we can help others become closer to God? Are we focused on being the light of Christ to others all through our day? Are we making it a point to spread the Good News?

“Let us consider”. Think about these words in a different light now. How about we consider all the opportunities we are passing up by being absorbed in our own lives. Ouch! That makes me cringe. How often are we so wrapped up in our destinations and all that we have to do that we completely neglect opportunities right in front of us? All too often!

We should even take this a step further. How about we not only consider, but we actually……DO! So often we say we’ll thinking about that or think about this with very little intention of actually doing it. Let us consider how we may encourage others around us.

Let us make it a point and put forth more effort to consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds as God has commanded us to.

Interesting. This is something that I've been thinking on lately. We're to be the light of the world. We can't put a basket over the candle, but rather positioned to give light to all who are in the house etc., What I came up with was, look back in the OT. You see how they lived back then? They would divide everything equally amongst the brethren. Unbelievers got what they needed.

Fist greatest commandment, love God with all of our heart, soul and mind. The second is to love our Brothers as ourselves. That's huge. It means to treat others as you would like for them to treat you. If I were pan-handling to get by, I'd want for people to throw me some real bills instead of pocket change. Even giving a buck nowadays is nothing. A guy can barely buy lunch for a fiver nowadays. How about a 20? or 50?

If we want to let a light shine that others will take note of, we have to express love to them, even if they've just insulted us or something. Take women for instance. A lot of women work harder than men. For less too. If your waitress is mean to you, why should that cut down her tip? So we can show that you dont be mean to me? Maybe she's under a lot of stress. Sick child, butthead boyfriend, aches & pains...whatever. So instead of (getting even) cutting down her tip when the service is bad or she's mean...why not increase it instead? If the lady is so stressed that it's affecting her work, then she needs some love and not what she deserves (so to speak).

Just little stuff like that can make a big difference in someones day or life. I'm going to start tipping the bad waitresses, I think that's a good idea. One thing I do already do, is not road rage. I'll make excuses for them instead of get mad for cutting me off or wotnot. Whoa, that guy must be haulin home to get his preg wife to the hospital or something! Then there's no anger.

I think showing love to people in tense situations like this would make a huge impact overall if we all did it. (Just because someone is being an a-hole, doesn't mean that we have to be!)

Life is 10% what it throws at you and 90% how you react to it. :wink
 
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