ENCOURAGEMENT-17 (Colossians 1:28-29)

Spiritual Gifts – Exhortation (encouragement)

As believers, God has given us spiritual gifts to be used
effectively in expanding His ministry on earth. One of
those gifts is ‘exhortation’ and when it is effectively used,
it can have a huge impact on the spiritual growth of others.

To “exhort” is to “encourage”. Being able to “encourage”,
and having a desire to “encourage”, is a “gift” from God
to all believers who are followers of Jesus Christ. God calls
all of us to “encourage” others, and especially those who
are serving Him. It is a ‘gift’ we should not take lightly,
but one we should embrace, and use as often as possible.

Characteristics of Exhortation (COLOSSIANS 1:28, 29)

1. A person with the gift of exhortation is motivated
   by a desire to urge others to achieve their full
   spiritual maturity in Christ. It gives them joy
   to see others using their spiritual gifts to serve
   the Lord.
2. They have an ability to visualize the spiritual
   potential and achievements in others, and it
   motivates them to encourage them to action.
       – They know the importance of
          their own role as an encourager.
       – They can have feelings of disappointment
          in themselves when they miss an opportunity
          to encourage another believer.
3. They have an ability to discern where a person is in their
   spiritual growth, and to be able to speak to them on that level.
       – They have a desire to find out where a person is spiritually.
       – They are extremely anxious for spiritual growth in others,
          and they look forward to observing positive and obvious
          results when they encourage someone.
4. They have a desire to give precise steps of action in their
   efforts to urge others to achieve greater spiritual maturity.
       – They can sense the potential in others and visualize
          ways to help them get relief from their past, and as
          a result, be able to press on toward being useful in
          God’s master plan.
5. They have a tendency to accept personal tribulation as
   motivation for their own spiritual growth (Colossians 1:29).
       – They are willing to endure difficulties
          because they know the value of suffering.
       – They know that difficulty may be one of the steps
          God uses to increase a person’s spiritual maturity.
6. They have a tendency to be less interested in
   information if it lacks personal application.
       – They are interested in, and listen to ideas
          and suggestions from others, for spiritual growth.
7. They enjoy face to face discussions because it helps
   them to see the results of their encouragement and
   determine if they need to clarify their comments.
       – Paul would say, “I desire to see you”, etc.
       – They notice a person’s facial expressions, body
          language, etc. in order to determine when they
          need to explain their comments, or encourage
          in a different way.
8. They have an ability to discover insights from personal
   experiences, especially when they can be validated and
   explained in scripture.
       – Since they have an unselfish nature, they notice
          the lives of others, and then go to the word of God,
          to find a principal to share with the other person
          (they can support their comments by saying,
           “Look, here is what God tells us in His Word”).
9. They have an awareness that harmony is a cornerstone
   to spiritual maturity, and it motivates them to creating
   harmony to a diverse group of Christians.
       – They can discern a problem, visualize what
          could happen, and provide others with steps
          to maintaining, or regaining harmony.
10. They enjoy watching those who are eager to follow
    steps of action in order to use their spiritual gift
    to serve the Lord.
        – They are less interested in small talk, but are
           keenly interested in observing how someone is
           moving and growing toward spiritual maturity.

MISUNDERSTANDINGS OF THOSE WHO EXHORT (encourage):

1. Their emphasis on steps of action:
       – May appear to over-simplify a problem.
       – The exhorter knows the solution to an issue came directly
          from God, but the other person hears him saying that the
          problem is not so bad, and all they have to do is follow
          some simple steps of action.
2. Their urgency in providing steps of action to an issue:
       – May appear to others as being overconfident.
3. Their desire to win non-Christians through living examples:
       – May appear as a lack of interest in personal
          evangelism, and encouraging other believers.
4. Their use of scripture for practical application:
       – May appear to some, to be taking scriptures out of context.
          Note:
              Although the scripture they chose may have been
              written for people in an earlier time, the principles
              are still applicable today.
5. Their emphasis on steps of action:
       – May appear to be a disregard for the
          ‘feelings’ of those they are trying to encourage.

There are some distinct differences in the use,
and effectiveness of this gift when a person is
‘walking in the Spirit’ versus ‘walking in the flesh’.

When ‘walking in the Spirit’, God can effectively use
them in encouraging others, because the ‘Spirit’ guides
them in their attitudes and the things they say and do.

However, when they are ‘walking in the flesh’ they inhibit
the work of the ‘Spirit’, because they are allowing selfishness
(and possibly pride) to be their motivation. As a result, their
efforts to encourage can be ineffective, and be detrimental
to what God wants, and expects of them.

Walking in the Spirit:
    They have an unusual wisdom of how to encourage others.
        – They can visualize the potential in others.
Walking in the flesh:
    They are driven by ‘natural’ (and not ‘spiritual’) tendencies.
        – They tend to visualize others and their
          potential to serve the Lord, from a ‘worldly’ viewpoint.

Walking in the Spirit:
    They have a special ability of ‘discernment’.
        – They understand that people are different
           and each person needs to be encouraged in
           a way that ‘fits’ them, their personality, and
           their level of spiritual maturity.
Walking in the flesh:
    They are more judgmental than they are encouraging.
        – They find fault with, and criticize others. They
           often point out the flaws of a person when talking
           to others. Of course, this not only fails to encourage
           someone, but it also influences the opinions of others
           about them, in a negative way.

Walking in the Spirit:
    They have faith that God will provide a spiritual gift to each believer.
        – They believe in God’s plans for mankind and each person.
Walking in the flesh:
    They are driven more by their own personal opinion.
        – They believe things happen based on luck or probability
          (God is not involved).

Walking in the Spirit:
    They are tactful, kind, courteous and
    can use discretion when encouraging others.
        – They know what to say, what not to say and
          when to say them in order to encourage others.
Walking in the flesh:
    – They tend to be gullible and easily fooled by others.
    – They speak before thinking.
       (their comments lack self-control and are a result
       of emotions and pride, rather than considering the
       feelings of others, and the impact their words can have)

Walking in the Spirit:
    They have a genuine love for God, and for others.
        – They realize an important step in encouraging
          others to increase their spiritual maturity and
          serving the Lord is to accept them just the way
          they are and let God take care of changing them.
Walking in the flesh:
    They have allowed selfishness to be their reason for
    encouraging others (they want to be recognized for
    their efforts).
        – They are impatient and want to ‘fix’ others
           so they will attain the same level of spiritual
           maturity that they feel they have achieved.

Walking in the Spirit:
    They can be very creative in encouraging others.
        – They look for ways for motivating others
           to follow some basic steps to achieve
           spiritual maturity.
Walking in the flesh:
    They can underachieve in encouraging others.
        – They don’t have the sincerity or the spiritual
           maturity to use their gift of encouragement to
           its fullest potential.

Walking in the Spirit:
    They have an enthusiasm about encouraging others.
        – Their attitude is: God can do it! You can do it!
Walking in the flesh:
    They tend to be apathetic.
        – They are not motivated or interested in seeing others
           improve their spiritual maturity, and the use of the
           spiritual gift God has given them; they are more
           concerned about themselves (selfish), than they
           are of others.
               Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit.
               Rather, in humility value others above yourselves,
               not looking to your own interests but each of you to
               the interests of the others. In your relationships with
               one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus.
               (Philippians 2:3-5)

We can all use encouragement in becoming what God wants us
to be so He can use us in His earthy ministry. At the same time,
we need to realize and embrace the fact that God wants to work
through us in His efforts to encourage others to become the usable
person He wants them to be. It is a huge responsibility and one we
should not take lightly. If we want to prove our love for the Lord,
encouraging others is a good starting point.

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