Loving and Encouraging One Another (Part 1)

The following is an excellent talk that Linda A. gave at a recent "Wise Women" segment on Wednesday nights. Since it is quite long, we will post this in 2 parts.

When I first read the e-mail to the elders' and deacons' wives asking us to choose a topic on which to speak at the Ladies' Bible Study on Wednesday nights, my first reaction was "I don't think so!" I know there are many gifted ladies in our church, and I felt that I didn't have anything of "import to impart", as they say! However, there have been various ideas - notions - observations – questions - hovering on the periphery of my thoughts for a while now. I felt as though the Lord was gathering that whole amorphous mass into an articulate whole that I can share with you. I may provoke more questions than answers, but we can help each other, can't we?

I asked if I could speak on encouragement, but a more accurate title would be "Serving and loving one another, prioritizing our time, and not feeling guilty when we can't meet every need."

I want to say at the outset that there is nothing in us that wants to do good - it all comes from the Lord. Any desire to read the Bible, to pray, to be unselfish, generous, kind - none of these things is within us. It's all God. Even the good that unbelievers do is because of common grace. I also want to say that when you are pointing a finger at others, you are pointing three fingers back at yourself. I am speaking to myself even more than I am speaking to you!

Encouragement - we all need it. It can give us strength to continue a difficult task. It can spur us on to new endeavors. It can transform a gloomy, grudging attitude into one of thankfulness. In Hebrews 10: 24-25, it says "And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near." In 1 John 3:14, it says "We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brothers. Whoever does not love abides in death." In 1 John 3:18, it says, "Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth."

There are many, many other verses instructing us to love and serve one another, but you get the point: if we have the honor of calling ourselves by the name Christian, then we should subdue this old flesh, and seek others' good and not our own.

The problem is that there are so many needs, aren't there? On any given Sunday, you can read in the church bulletin that there is a need for nursery workers, Sunday school teachers, AWANA leaders, youth workers, IFO friendship partners, STEP mentors, and volunteers to answer the phone in the church office. That's only the church itself. Individuals need someone to watch their children, drive them to doctor appointments, cook meals, clean house, call them regularly and devote time to listening to their concerns. The list goes on and on. Now, what do you do? You want to serve. After all, we are God's hands and feet on this earth, aren't we?

However, it's pretty obvious that there is no way one person can be involved in so many areas. So, what is a Christian woman to do?

There is one thing every single one of us can do and you know exactly what that is: PRAY. Pray specifically. Use the church prayer list. It's updated every week, so you can pray intelligently.

We can let others know we're praying for them and ask how the current situation is going. I will tell you that that is an enormous encouragement when you are going through a trial. I remember when Kenny had leukemia back in 1994. He had to go through chemo treatments and be hospitalized for almost a week, every month for over a year. His blood counts would plummet, making him susceptible to infection. I had a friend who was not only faithful to pray but also kept up with exactly where he was in his chemo cycle. She would say things like, "He had chemo last week didn't he, so how is he feeling right now?" I cannot tell you how encouraging that was to me. It really showed she cared.

So, we should not only pray for each other, but we should pray intelligently.

We can send cards of encouragement. (That kind of goes along with letting someone know you're praying for them.) Referring back to the leukemia, Kenny and I received tons of encouraging cards initially. However, there were a couple of ladies who would continue to send "praying for you" cards for several years. When the chemo treatments stopped, there was a very high chance of his losing his remission. Their cards would usually arrive when I was feeling discouraged. It was a precious reminder of our Lord's care for us.

We can call to encourage someone and let her know that we are praying and care about her situation. I like to make phone calls when I'm walking my dog. At home, I really don't have much time to spend on the phone. I think that goes for most of us.

Most of us can make extra meals to take to someone. Even if we're living on a small income, we could supply bread to go with someone else's meal or a small dessert. We have to cook anyway, so why not just make extra? Now, I say that as though I find it very easy. I will tell you I don't! Not because I don't want to make a meal for someone else but because I'm always worried that they won't like it. I have a standard casserole type dish that I take. Since I don't eat meat, I don't have a clue what it tastes like, but my family likes it. If I have to take a second meal, I panic!!! (Just kidding! I take taco soup.) Bottom line: making a meal for someone else should not be a huge sacrifice.

We can look for ways to serve while we are at church. There is always a need for nursery workers. In an ideal situation, no mothers of babies and young children should ever have to serve in the nursery or pre-school. When you have several children, you can spend a lot of time back in the nursery and hardly ever receive spiritual food.

Tomorrow we will look at other ways we can serve and examine our motivation for serving and our attitudes about serving and being served.