| “Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.” |
| —1 Thessalonians 5:11 |
I would like to begin this blog post by sharing the following account with you:
My wife and I have a very dear friend who spent most of her formative years studying music. She majored in music in college. She devoted herself to composition and refining her skills as a brass player in graduate school. She obtained a Ph.D., in order to gain even more knowledge about music. And, she even took post-graduate studies in conducting, so that she could achieve an excellence in conducting and managing a symphony orchestra. She is talented in so very many ways: performer, composer, conductor, mentor, and teacher. But, God seems to have had an entirely different path for her to travel. When He brought her into the lives of my wife and me, she was unable to secure a full-time position in music.
She very much wanted a post that would allow her to manage and conduct an orchestra. But, those doors—largely guarded by an “old-boys network”—seemed closed to her. She was, after all, a woman. She was very smart. And, she likely threatened, even intimidated, the normal job politics of most organizations that support an orchestra. So, she took what was essentially a very low-paying data entry position in a company that provided support operations for the insurance industry. She often sat in our living room and shared the woes of corporate life.
Since I had worked in the corporate world for many decades, I was able to help her understand some of the typical corporate politics and to offer suggestions as to how to deal with those who would stand in her way of advancement. By God’s grace, lots of hard work, and her own superior intellectual ability, she began to slowly climb the corporate ladder, made a few job changes within a different company to positions of ever-greater responsibility and compensation, and eventually found a very nice niche in understanding the rigors of corporate human resources management.
Now she has her own business, helping people apply for jobs and navigate the ever-complex world of on-line job applications. She has truly become an expert. Many now seek her help in locating the ideal position. She understands the technology behind the on-line application systems, how to tweak one’s input to match the systems’ algorithms, and her clients readily find new and better jobs in a climate that is largely unfavorable to those looking for high-level employment.
She was wise enough to seek advice when she didn’t understand something. And, she was very willing to listen to the advice when she was given it. More so, she worked very, very hard to put into practice every bit of knowledge she accrued. Perhaps, most importantly of all, she honored God at every step along the way. She was, and is, a choice servant of the Great King Jesus. And, she was always willing to have Him lead her in a new direction. She sought her primary sustenance from Him and from His written Word.
I share this story with you because I believe it illustrates the role we all must play in each other’s lives. We each must be an encourager—a Barnabas, if you will, since that name means “Son of Encouragement.”
Consider these questions:
- To whom have you been a Barnabas today?
- Is there someone to whom you have spoken an encouraging word?
- Do you actively seek to say things that encourages others to think well of themselves and to celebrate their accomplishments for Christ and His Kingdom?
- When one of your fellow brothers or sisters in Christ achieves something new, do you purposely and purposefully, cheer them on and celebrate with them, letting their joy become your joy?
The Apostle Paul urged those in the church at Thessalonica to do what Barnabas was known to do. Notice what Paul writes in 1 Thessalonians 5:11:
Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.
As a new day opens before us, it presents yet another opportunity for each one of us to become an encourager—a Barnabas—to our fellow believers. And, we can become encouragers to everyone who may cross our pathway, too. Certainly almost everyone can benefit from hearing words that will make them think better of themselves.
Based on a blog originally posted on Monday, September 10, 2018
