ENCOURAGEMENT: We All Need It and Need to Give It

 Pastor Raymond D. Burrows of Faith Temple Church, Taylors, SC, spoke on “Encouragement” during the Aug. 26, 2020, Wednesday night service at the church. 

He read two passages: 

The first Scripture, 1 Sam. 18:1-5, tells that after David killed Goliath, a giant who challenged Israel, David walked into King Saul’s presence — carrying the head of Goliath! Saul questioned David, and Saul’s son, Jonathan, also listened.

“And it came to pass, when he [David] had made an end of speaking unto Saul, that the soul of Jonathan was knit with the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul. …

“Then Jonathan and David made a covenant, because he loved him as his own soul.   

“And Jonathan stripped himself of the robe that was upon him, and gave it to David, and his garments, even to his sword, and to his bow, and to his girdle [belt].” 

Pastor Burrows read Acts 4:34-37:

“Neither was there any among them that lacked: for as many as were possessors of lands or houses sold them, and brought the prices of the things that were sold, and laid them down at the apostles’ feet: and distribution was made unto every man according as he had need.  

“And Joses, who by the apostles was surnamed Barnabas, (which is, being interpreted, The son of consolation,) a Levite, and of the country of Cyprus, having land, sold it, and brought the money, and laid it at the apostles’ feet.”

“Down through these years, Beloved, there is a subject that is kind of near and dear to my heart,” Pastor Burrows said. “It is the ministry of encouragement.” 

He gave five points about encouragement:

1. Everyone needs encouragement at periodic intervals of life. There are no exceptions — old, young, and in-between are needy. 

2. Everyone can be used of the Spirit to encouragement another person. Everyone. 

“There was a time that King David encouraged himself because all the circumstances were, at that moment, aligned against him,” Pastor Burrows said. “So, we are able to do so for one another, or for ourselves.  

3. Encouragement should be periodically extended.

“As the Lord would give you opportunity, take advantage of it,” Pastor Burrows said.

4. It helps to maximize the potential abilities in another person, whenever you encourage.   

“It might be a child; it might be a fellow worker,” Pastor Burrows said. “But whenever that is done, the abilities of that person often escalate.”   

5. Encouragement dispenses of discouragement.
  “It sort of makes discouragement evaporate or go away,” he said.   

Jonathan was slightly older than David, Pastor Burrows theorized, though probably they were not too different in age. Perhaps Jonathan sensed that David would become king of Israel, though Jonathan was “in line” for the throne.

Jonathan was used mightily to encourage David and proved partly responsible for what David became and accomplished in life, Pastor Burrows said.

“You hold the ability to elevate someone else to a new level, simply by encouragement,” he said. “To encourage, you have to think about the welfare and interest of another person … you forget about yourself, your present situation, etc., and the focus goes to another person.” 

He told about his parents taking his two brothers and him to see his grandparents who “came alive” because of the boys’ childhood visits. The younger people’s presence encouraged the old folk. 

He told of hundreds of hours that he spent, over the years, on the telephone. The receiving person often said, “Thank you for calling. I feel a little better.” 

“May we never forget the power of that virtue called encouragement,” Pastor Burrows said. “Lord, grant me the privilege to be an encourager.”  

He added, “There is a tendency among us to take people for granted — or kind of allow those moments when we can minister into another person’s life to pass through our fingers.”

When you receive encouragement, what should be your response?

“That there would be this ability to reciprocate, to bless, to lift, and to encourage virtually every person you come in contact with,” Pastor Burrows said.

He referred to Barnabas, the “son of consolation” (encouragement) as a person who encouraged the early church, endorsed Paul when the Church was skeptical of Paul, and encouraged John Mark who wrote the Gospel of Mark. 

“You can easily remember the people who lift you,” Pastor Burrows said. “They have a warm place in your heart and mind. They may have left us, but we still love and appreciate them.”