“We ought always to thank God for you, brothers and sisters, and rightly so, because your faith is growing more and more, and the love all of you have for one another is increasing. Therefore, among God’s churches we boast about your perseverance and faith in all the persecutions and trials you are enduring.” (2 Thessalonians 1:3-4 NIV)
Now I am going to tell you a story before I get into this passage of Scripture for today because it relates to what this passage of Scripture is teaching. I am a participant in social media, specifically the one called Facebook, which is a social media internet site. If you are unfamiliar with what that is, it is a place on the internet where people can gather together and interact with one another in a social setting. Now this is not a Christian site, but from what I have experienced, it is also not anti-Christian (in America). So right now I have the freedom to share my daily devotions on that site.
Now Facebook has many sub-groups which are special interest groups that you can join and where you can also socialize and interact with other people who may not be your friends but who are people who share common interests with you, which may or may not be Christian, per se, but not anti-Christian. For example, I have joined several of these groups as a way to connect with other people who have common interests and experiences. And one of those groups is for people who graduated from the same high school that I did, which was Akron (Ohio, USA) East High (I graduated in 1968).
The name of the man who started this group is Bob. And a few weeks back Bob started something new which he calls “weekly wins.” And this is a place where people can share something positive that happened to them during the week that encouraged them, and thus it serves also as an encouragement to others. And again, this is not a Christian group, per se, but it is not anti-Christian, which is nice. And so these weekly wins may cover a vast array of subjects, but are usually just simple things that happen in people’s lives which serve to encourage them even in small ways.
Now, I find that particularly encouraging. I really enjoy reading people’s “weekly wins,” even some of the simplest ones of all. I think I enjoy them the most because of the simplicity of them. And sometimes it literally brings me to happy tears just reading their “weekly wins.” And so this is one of the highlights of my week now. Why? Because we, as human beings, Christian and non-Christian alike, need encouragement. And I don’t mean all just pats on the back, either, but sometimes we need to be encouraged away from the bad stuff and to do what is good and right and just and kind and loving.
Anyway, another thing that Bob has initiated is that weekly he makes it a point to thank certain people for their participation in the group for that week, and he encourages us to do likewise, i.e. to thank other people for their participation. I like that, as well, for it is encouraging other people.
When I got on the internet this morning my passage of Scripture for today was on the subject of being thankful for other people. And I had to smile! Now, in context, the passage is speaking of Christian to Christian and in specific context of their walks of faith in Jesus Christ. And this is something that Christians should be doing with other Christians if they are aware of their walks of faith. But we should also be doing the kind of encouragement that is regarded as exhortation which involves encouraging people away from things which are bad/evil and toward what is good/righteous.
But we should be people who are in the practice of encouraging all people, and who are thanking them when they share something that is good or when they do something that is good, for we all need encouragement. Now we should not encourage anything that is anti-Christian or that goes against our moral values or that is something that in good conscience that we cannot support. But when we see kindness, love, generosity, helpfulness, etc. taking place in people’s lives toward other people, we should encourage that. We should even be thankful for those who urge others away from what is evil.
So, anyway, the Lord was impressing it upon my heart this morning that we need to be people who make it our practice to encourage other people and who thank them for their kindness, even if it is not towards us, but if it is towards someone else. For all human beings need to be encouraged in some way or another, but according to our own consciences and what we believe we can encourage them in or be thankful for. For this needs to be sincere from our hearts and not fake. We have enough fakery in the world. We need more people who are real and honest.
So, yes, Christian to Christian we need to be encouraging what we can see ourselves if it is something that doesn’t go against the Scriptures or that doesn’t go against our moral values, etc. We need to be encouraging others in their walks of faith and obedience to the Lord so that they do not get discouraged and disheartened. And we need to be urging one another away from all that is evil and toward all that is good in the eyes of God. And we need to be thanking one another for our contributions to the encouragement of the body of Christ which includes urgings and exhortations, too.
But be people who make it your practice to be encouragers and those who thank others for what they do that is good, and to all people, not just to other Christians. For we all need encouragement and we all need to hear someone say, “Thank you,” from time to time. But we should not do what we do to get the praise of humans, but we should do what we do that is good regardless of whether or not we are acknowledged at all by other humans, and even if others are mean and hateful towards us. But we should make it our practice to thank others for the good that they do. And that’s the point!
But we should never neglect to thank the Lord and to give him the glory and the honor and the praise for what he has done and for what he is doing in and through our lives, as his followers, and for his glory and praise. We should always give credit where credit is due and not take the credit for ourselves for what we know God is doing and has done in our lives to make us into the people of God that he created us to be. “And if I gain any praise let it go to Calvary” (taken from the song “My Tribute” by Andrae Crouch).
Video Talk
https://youtu.be/mgwguVmyxCc
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Give Thanks
By Don Moen / Henry Smith
Give thanks with a grateful heart
Give thanks to the Holy One
Give thanks because He's given Jesus Christ, His Son
And now let the weak say, "I am strong"
Let the poor say, "I am rich
Because of what the Lord has done for us"
We give thanks to You oh Lord
We give thanks
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DXmv6MuUH6k
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