Encourage with Confidence

And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another
—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.
Hebrews 10: 24-25 (NIV)

Do you go to church and feel lonely, discouraged, and sad? Do you sometimes sit alone on the church pew thinking, “Why am I here?” or “What is my purpose?” I have felt those same feelings and I know that there are many others who would agree they have felt similarly.

When you feel insecure and then no one talks to you, you feel justified in feeling that way. When you think you have no friends and then go to church with no one trying to get to know you better, it proves that you really have no friends.

Or at least that’s what we think. I have learned that when we go to church and feel unloved by those around us, they are probably feeling unloved as well. When we feel small, insignificant, or even invisible, we wait for someone to say, “Hi. I see you. Come join us.” But if we all feel unwelcome, no one is reaching out to anyone else.

What can we do with our discouraged hearts? The answer is to reach out and encourage someone else.

These verses from Hebrews give me purpose when I wonder what my purpose is. Even though I’ve heard “not giving up meeting together” as the main focus of this passage, now I use “spur one another on toward love and good deeds” as my call to action.

Maybe you’ve also heard a sermon from Hebrews 10 where the preacher emphasizes that we should not be “forsaking the assembling of ourselves together” (NKJV). Or maybe you’ve heard that we go to church so that we ourselves feel encouraged. I don’t think either of those is wrong. But I do feel like those both miss the mark and the point of this passage.

When I read Hebrews 10, I focus on “let us consider one another.” The writer is saying think of others and not of yourself. Everyone of us should be the ones doing the encouraging, not waiting for others to encourage us.

“Let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds.” Not only should we be thinking of each other, but also there’s action involved. “Spur” makes me think of a kick in the rear, a push, a shove. We should be guiding each other into loving acts of kindness and doing good works. We all need encouragement to act, to participate, and to find a place to do the good works we desire to do.

The next part, “not giving up meeting together” is what has been used to remind church members that we should be attending services and events at the church building. The idea here is not to shame those who miss a worship service, Bible class, or opportunity to fellowship. But the writer of Hebrews is encouraging you and me to be there so that we can encourage our fellow church members. If you are not there, you are missing out on an opportunity to encourage someone. If a friend is absent, instead of asking, “Why weren’t you here?” in a condemning tone, we can say, “We missed you.”

But how can we be encouragers when we feel discouraged ourselves? The answer is confidence. Not confidence in ourselves, but in God. Read these verses from Hebrews 10:19-23:

Therefore, brothers and sisters, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. (NIV)

When our confidence is in God, we can have hope. Hope in God’s promises brings joy, and we want to share that joy with others. When our confidence is in ourselves and our abilities, we can feel discouraged if no one is noticing us. It causes us to look down, fold our arms, look at our phone, and further isolate ourselves. This can eventually lead to us not attending church at all.

When you feel discouraged, instead of giving up meeting with fellow Christians, think about how you can encourage others. There’s so much work to be done, give a friend the push they need to participate and do something good.

Finally, let’s read Hebrews 10:35-39:

So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded.
You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised. For,
“In just a little while,
he who is coming will come
and will not delay.”
And,
“But my righteous one will live by faith.
And I take no pleasure
in the one who shrinks back.”
But we do not belong to those who shrink back and are destroyed, but to those who have faith and are saved. (NIV)

What do you do when you are discouraged? Do you “shrink back” and make yourself invisible? That’s what I do. But the writer of Hebrews is saying stay confident and don’t hide yourself. Just because you feel discouraged doesn’t mean you should give up. You be the reason someone else is encouraged.

Encourage someone to teach a children’s Bible class or help in the nursery. Encourage a friend to help with the next fellowship activity or to join you in a project. Ask someone to come to your Bible class and use that opportunity to visit with them. Go sit by a person who is sitting by herself. Invite a family who you’d like to get to know better to lunch.

We don’t go to the worship assembly to feel encouraged, but to be the encouragers. And we can do that because we believe in Christ’s sacrifice once and for all, and we have hope that God’s promises are true because He is faithful! Our confidence is not in ourselves, but in God. Because He loves us, we can boldly show love to others.

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