As iron sharpens iron,
one person sharpens another. (Proverbs 27:17)
“As one who greatly benefited from those in this role following the untimely death of my wife of 50 years in December 2021, here are a few suggestions based on what was most helpful to me.” - Lifeway
“A pastor’s work is never done…. Sermon preparation is difficult work…. Seldom is a pastor not at least ‘on call.’… A word of encouragement is often unexpected and surprising.” - Chuck Lawless
Acts 11:24 says this of Barnabas: he was “a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and of faith.” God describes Barnabas as a man who lived by the strength and grace of the Holy Spirit. God describes Barnabas a man who believed His Word, a man whose live greatly encouraged others. Anyone that God publicly assesses this way is someone that we want to emulate!
“ ‘I offer two pieces of wisdom… Never be discouraged and never be a discourager.’ I have thought deeply about this counsel and have decided it is good—mostly good.” - Challies
“intellectual solutions weren’t what Lewis needed in those moments. His arguments hadn’t lost their rationality; they’d lost their emotional weight. In the face of his wife’s death, they now felt hollow.” - TGC
“someone… whose faith is under fire from great trials or a particular attack from the tempter. How would you minister to this person? Paul gives us a model in his letter to the church in Thessalonica.” - Colin Smith
“Think about words…We tend to recall the painful ones more than the affirming ones—so we must work harder to encourage others with regularity.” - Chuck Lawless
“ ‘comfort’ is not the normal way that verb gets translated in the New Testament. Most often, this extremely common verb, parakaleō, gets translated [as] ‘encourage,’ ‘exhort,’ or ‘urge,’ but only rarely as ‘comfort.’” - Kenneth Berding
“How can we avoid the pitfall of being one of these well-meaning, but miserable comforters?” - TGC
Discussion