Better Together: Seeking God With OthersChikamu

Exhort consistently.

Friendship is not threatened by honest criticism. It is strengthened. — Charles Swindoll 

People often think that exhortation and encouragement are synonymous. That is partially true. Exhortation is encouragement but it is so much more. In the original Greek language, the word for exhort in Hebrews 3:13 is parakaleō. It means to admonish, advise, warn, challenge, teach, console, and yes, encourage. 

On any given day, there is a part of exhortation that is easier for us — teaching, consoling, and encouraging. But the harder part of exhortation is where we admonish, advise, warn, or challenge someone. What makes this difficult is that people don’t always want to hear what we have to say. Even the people in our community. 

Let’s discuss both aspects of exhortation:

Admonish and challenge appropriately.
We are never short on people’s advice at any time. Everyone has their own opinions about almost everything. And that is basically what it means to admonish someone— to offer them advice or a warning. But admonishing or challenging someone with the “wisdom of the world” is not good enough. We must be grounded in what our God says in order to offer the life-giving wisdom from His Word. If we care about the people in our close-knit community, we must be willing to offer our thoughts and advice to them, even if our words are unpopular. And we must also want the same done in return. Just like we need to offer godly counsel, we also need to receive it as well.

Encourage and teach continually.
This world we live in is full of challenges and struggles. It is so difficult to keep a positive outlook when much around us is negative. When we encourage someone, we are instilling courage in them. It’s as if we are giving them some of our courage when we do this. We all need this—even the people who are really good at encouraging others. So, let’s speak life and godly wisdom into someone’s character, circumstances, and trials. According to Hebrews 3:13, if we don’t encourage others, we will become deceived by sin. If we don’t receive the encouragement we need, our spirits will be spiritually malnourished.

Let’s not be afraid to be distributors and recipients of exhortation from the people in our community. It will make us better versions of ourselves for God’s glory as well as deepen our earthly friendships.

Reflect

• Is it hard for you to build people up and say nice things to or about them? Why or why not?
• Do you find it difficult to have challenging and uncomfortable conversations? Write down your reasons.
• Write down any revelation that God speaks to you through today’s Bible reading or devotional.