Be an encourager!

Relocating the family home after many years was a moving experience for Michelle Nunn – in more ways than one!

Over the last couple of months, we have been transitioning out of our family home which has been shared by three generations of our family for several decades. The task was much bigger than any of us thought and, on many occasions, we have wanted to abandon sifting through 25 years of ‘life stuff’ and deciding whether to love it, list it or lose it.

One of the positives of our downsizing project has been the rediscovery of the many encouragements we have received over the years from co-workers and church members, and which I have successfully hoarded. I have kept notes and thank-you cards, as well as albums given to me when I left various leadership positions in the marketplace and more recently church.

Filled with pictures, kind words and encouragement, it has been good to find time to stop, re-read and remember the good people and times we have shared.

This experience reminds me of how important encouragement is when we are trying to fulfil our aspirations and God-given calls.

As another year of students embark on their studies, I am reminded of how important it is to encourage and call out the treasure to be found in one another.

Many of our students would not have taken the bold step to study theology without the encouragement of God’s people who have had the prophetic imagination to see our students’ potential.

I am grateful for those encouragers who have shared their own thoughts, prophetic words, and given practically of their resources to advance the Kingdom in this way ‒ supporting new generations of believers in studying the Word and encountering the Holy Spirit, exploring their calls and preparing themselves as ambassadors and ministers of Christ.

The most profound encouragement I have ever witnessed was at a model racing event. A girl, about 12 years old, was competing as the only female in an adult remote control car racing event in Slovakia. After all the heats, she found herself in the final. As she took the lead about halfway through the race, her male teammates stepped up their encouragement, leaning over the barriers and enthusiastically cheering her on, passionately wanting her to win, beating the other professional drivers and finalists. When she won, the whole racing arena roared.

At the time I was profoundly moved with what I had witnessed and the thought of what the church would be like if we found the freedom to encourage each other like this. Whilst Paul talks of the great crowd of witnesses cheering us on (Hebrews 12:1) and we are taught to “encourage one another and build each other up” (1 Thessalonians 5:11), the experience of the power of collective encouragement has never left me. I have been in the most encouraging and generous of churches but am yet to see such enthusiasm for another’s success.

Over the last 13 months I have been receiving regular, anonymous encouragement from someone. On many occasions I have found a card under my door or been handed an envelope by my PA. When I have opened it, I have found encouraging words affirming something positive that I have been involved with or in the life of the college, along with gift cards and even money. Each time I have taken time to thank God for the one who has chosen to encourage me; on many occasions the blessing has landed at just the right time.

All of us need some affirmation and encouragement to get us through times of transition or challenge. We also need encouragement to call us to be our best, to spur us on to reveal the greatness of Christ within. I want to challenge you to make encouraging others a regular spiritual discipline in your life. Jesus encouraged ordinary everyday people to repent, believe and follow him, to live their best and most exciting life as his disciple.

Who can you encourage with words and your generosity? And with those seeds of encouragement, what can they accomplish in fulfilling Jesus’ redemptive plans?

My goal is that they may be encouraged in heart and united in love, so that they may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely Christ,” (Colossians 2:2 NIV)

This article first appeared in Direction Magazine. For further details, please click here.