Why Does God Want Me To Encourage Others?

Photo by Tim Mossholder on Unsplash

Someone once said that, “Encouragement is oxygen for the soul.” All people need to be encouraged and the God of Heaven, as the “Master Encourager,” knows this. He is compassionate on His creation knowing the great need for encouragement to be able to weather the storms of life. After telling Abraham to leave everything he had ever known, God said, “I will make you a great nation; I will bless you And make your name great; And you shall be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, And I will curse him who curses you; And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed” (Gen. 12:2-3). When Moses was hesitant to go back to Egypt to approach Pharoah, God encouraged Moses that He would be with him all the way (Exo. 3-4). When Moses died, Joshua was charged with leading God’s people through uncertainty. Consider the encouragement God gave him: “Moses My servant is dead. Now therefore, arise, go over this Jordan, you and all this people, to the land which I am giving to them —the children of Israel. Every place that the sole of your foot will tread upon I have given you, as I said to Moses. From the wilderness and this Lebanon as far as the great river, the River Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, and to the Great Sea toward the going down of the sun, shall be your territory. No man shall be able to stand before you all the days of your life; as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not leave you nor forsake you. Be strong and of good courage, for to this people you shall divide as an inheritance the land which I swore to their fathers to give them. Only be strong and very courageous, that you may observe to do according to all the law which Moses My servant commanded you; do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may prosper wherever you go. This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success” (Josh. 1:3-8).

These are but a few examples of how God encourages His people. Today, we can take comfort in the words, “I will never leave you nor forsake you” and, "The Lord is my helper; I will not fear. What can man do to me?” (Heb. 13:5-6). The question we want to answer in this article is this: Why does God want me to encourage others? The simple answer is that God wants us to encourage others because that imitates His behavior! God is the God of all comfort Who comforts us that we might comfort others (2 Cor. 1:3-4). The same is true when it comes to encouragement as God is certainly, “The God of all Encouragement!” With the space remaining, we want to consider the example of Barnabas who we know and love as “The Son of Encouragement” (Acts 4:36). By looking to the example that he set, hopefully we can apply these lessons to be encouragers to the glory of God!

When Saul of Tarsus was converted by hearing, believing, and obeying the Gospel of Christ (Acts 9:18; 22:16), he immediately went out to teach and preach the truth (Acts 9:20; cf. Gal. 1:23). While he was totally convinced and “on fire” for God, the disciples were hesitant to welcome him as a “co-laborer in the Gospel. The Bible says that the disciples in Jerusalem were “afraid of him” and “did not believe that he was a disciple” (Acts 9:26). Barnabas, stepping in and injecting encouragement into a difficult situation, “went to bat” for Saul: “But Barnabas took him and brought him to the apostles. And he declared to them how he had seen the Lord on the road, and that He had spoken to him, and how he had preached boldly at Damascus in the name of Jesus” (Acts 9:27).

This one act of kindness and display of encouragement quite literally affected the future of the Lord’s church in a very positive way. Imagine the church in the first century without the preaching, teaching, and example of the apostle Paul? Perhaps if Barnabas did not encourage the disciples and Saul, discouragement could have wiped out the momentum Saul had.

Throughout the remainder of the Book of Acts, we read about the encouragement that Barnabas gave to others which helped the Lord’s church to grow: "Then news of these things came to the ears of the church in Jerusalem, and they sent out Barnabas to go as far as Antioch. When he came and had seen the grace of God, he was glad, and encouraged them all that with purpose of heart they should continue with the Lord. For he was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and of faith. And a great many people were added to the Lord” (Acts 11:22-24). Paul, who was encouraged by Barnabas, also went on to encourage others: “After the uproar had ceased, Paul called the disciples to himself, embraced them, and departed to go to Macedonia. Now when he had gone over that region and encouraged them with many words, he came to Greece” (Acts 20:1-2).

God wants us to encourage others because He knows the danger of discouragement. Today, there is someone in great need of encouragement. Not only could it affect their lives here, but also their eternity. May we all be like Barnabas and look for opportunities to encourage those around us!