We’re all driven by encouragement, whether it’s by our teammates while playing sport, our peers before exams, or from our parents. As Christians, we can encourage one another in our faith.
Over the course of three articles, we’ll explore different ways we can all be encouraging each other in our faith.
#1 Let’s grab a coffee
I never understood why people say that meeting one-on-one was so encouraging—until I started doing it. And it doesn't have to be in person – it's almost just as good over Zoom or video chat.
I’ve been meeting with my partner in crime, Beth, for around a year and a half. Friends from youth group, we used to just sit in Gloria Jeans and chat—but as we progressed, we spent more and more time dissecting passages, talking about God, and sharing how life was going as a Christian.
It's not about the coffee
Reading the Bible in your own time has a number of benefits, but doing it with another person at least once a week can be really encouraging, and grow both of you in faith. It can be really tempting to give up when we come across a hard or challenging verse, but meeting one-on-one, you can work through these verses together.
At the start of each new school term Beth and I decide what we want to look at. We’ve spent time on the book of John, Mark and most recently, we spent a whole term looking at prayer. Because we’d both been neglecting prayer, we got journals so we could write down prayer points together, and pray for each other throughout the week. We kept each other accountable, but were comforted too, because we knew that someone was praying for us.
Be there for each other in everyday struggles
As a Christian teenager, one of the hardest things is talking about issues with my friends at school. I’m normally given the “everything will be alright” response, or I just don’t talk about it because I feel I can’t go up to my non-Christian friends and say “I’m finding it really hard to honour God because…”
When I meet up with Beth, I feel encouraged in my faith because we can work through these issues from a perspective that loves and serves God. It means that we’ve got each other to make sure we’re on a path that continues to honour God in our daily lives.
Reach out to a friend today
A lot of us get so wrapped up in our own issues that we forget we have people around us to help, who we can help in turn. If you’re not meeting with someone regularly, I challenge you to ask someone this week. Whether it’s over a coffee before school, during a spare lunchtime or before youth group, it’ll have an effect. It’ll be an encouragement not just to you, but also to your partner.
The more we are encouraged, the more we grow in our faith, and the better equipped we are to disciple non-believers.
Make time in your week and don't be afraid to ask a friend if they want to grab a coffee.
Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing. — 1 Thessalonians 5:11