A HOSPITAL ADMINISTRATOR was startled to see a patient fleeing down the hall from the operating room…

He stopped the patient and asked, “Do you mind telling me why you ran away from the operating room?”  The patient looked at him with startled eyes and said, “It was because of what the nurse said!”  The administer inquired, “Oh?  What did she say?”  “She said, ‘Be brave!  An appendectomy is quite simple.'”  To which the administrator replied, “Well, so what?  It is a simple procedure.  I would think her words would comfort you!”  The patient said, “I’ll tell you so what!  The nurse said it to the doctor!”

In Romans 12 Paul tells us that one of the gifts that exists in the church is exhortation.  The word literally means a “calling to one’s side for the purpose of giving comfort.”  The word we would probably use is encouragement.

We all need a word of encouragement on occasion.  There are times when each of us struggles with his or her role in the church.  Some feel as though the only functions of profit are the “high visibility” jobs, such as teaching or leading in some public way.  But if we all need to be encouraged, it seems that the one who encourages fills as a useful function as anyone in the church (cf. 1 Corinthians 12:14-26).

The greatest thing about being an encourager is that everyone can do it.  It doesn’t take a lot of time or effort, but it does take some.  It can be done in person, by mail, email, or phone.  You never know how much a word of encouragement is needed or how much good it can do.  Solomon said, “A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver” (Proverbs 25:11).  Mark Twain said he could live a week on a compliment.  (Mike Greene)

“We have different gifts, according to the grace given us…if a man’s gift is…encouraging, let him encourage” (Romans 12:6, 8 NIV).

Mike Benson