As iron sharpens iron,
one person sharpens another. (Proverbs 27:17)
“ ‘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
By Jordan Standridge. Reposted from The Cripplegate.
The Christian life is hard.
I know I’m not shocking you right now, but it isn’t easy to be a Christian. We are constantly at war. Mainly against our own flesh (1 Peter 2:11), but the enemy is constantly prowling around like a roaring lion seeking who he might devour as well (1 Peter 5:8).
“…the pleasure of pleasing someone I respected greatly whom it was my God-given duty to please. I had not been pandering. I hadn’t done the work primarily to please him, or I wouldn’t have pleased him; but when I did, and when he named the reason specifically—what a God-given joy.” - Mark Ward
“I’ll be the first to admit that it’s easier to turn on Netflix and turn off my brain for four hours after work than to go out of my way to find my friends and encourage them.” - Pursing the Pursuer
“John told Kathy how much he appreciated her, but he wanted to go a little further and decided to tell the store manager.” - IFWE
I am fast approaching two major milestones. First, I will shortly celebrate my seventieth birthday and three weeks later, our church will celebrate its forty-fifth anniversary. Since, in God’s good providence, I have pastored the church from the beginning, the church’s milestone is also the completion of my forty-five years as pastor of Beacon Baptist Church. Both of these celebrations are remarkable tokens of God’s kindness. I frankly did not expect to reach either one, but unless something unexpected intervenes, I will soon be looking at these milestones in the rear view mirror of life.
Discussion