“You’re a really good mom.” 

Just five simple words, but I have remembered them often since they were spoken to me by a young man who stayed with our family during a short-term mission trip two years ago. I didn’t feel like a good mom at the time. Homeschooling had hit an extremely rough patch, and it seemed like everything I did or said completely mortified my pre-teen sons. But that young man saw something special in how I interacted with my boys, and God used his simple words of encouragement to pull me through some difficult moments. 

Encouraging words are so important in our lives. A quick glance through a Bible concordance shows various forms of the word encouragement mentioned more than sixty times. There are also several very important reasons for us to follow this command and to encourage each other. Here are just a few of them: 

1. Encouragement keeps us from taking wrong paths or falling into bad doctrine. (2 Timothy 4:1-5; Hebrews 3:13; Hebrews 12:5) 




2. Encouragement helps us to do what is right. (Titus 2:6; Hebrews 10:24-25) 




3. Encouragement brings comfort, and gives us hope for life after death. (1 Corinthians 14:3; Romans 15:4-5; 1Thessalonians 4:13-18; 1 Thessalonians 5:1-11)

Finally, the writer of the book of Hebrews directly connects our responsibility to encourage one another with the amazing privilege that allows us to confidently enter into the Most Holy Place through Jesus’ sacrifice. We can draw near to God with sincere hearts, and be completely confident in our hope, because God is faithful. The end result of being on the receiving end of these gifts should be to “consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.” 

We don’t know when the “Day of the Lord” will arrive, but it’s certainly approaching. That means I have a job to do today… use the power of my words to get out there and encourage someone!