One of the biggest surprises while running the world’s largest 10K is how many people stand along the race course cheering runners on. Thousands of people cheer on runners they don’t even know. Honestly, I didn’t even hear most of what they were saying because I had my ear buds in my ears, but I think they were all saying, “You can do it Ken! You can make it!”. They may have been saying, “Slow down Ken, you are running too fast!” but then I would have just been dreaming so I know that is not what they were cheering.
No matter who you are, how fast or slow you run, everyone loves encouragement. Everyone loves to be cheered for and affirmed. Encouragement keeps you going when you feel like quitting. Affirmation stokes your fire when the pain in your legs is slowing you down. The Peachtree Road Race is proof that people want to be encouraged even if they don’t know the person encouraging them.
Being a disciple of Christ requires encouragement and being a disciple of Christ means being an encourager. When you seek to live your life as a disciple of Christ, it can get hard. It can be a struggle and having people encourage you is one way to help you finish the race the race well. Encouraging other disciples is also a great way to run the race and other people need your encouragement as much as you need theirs.
In 1 Thessalonians 4:18, we are told to “encourage each other” with the words Paul has written. In Hebrews 10:25, we are told to “encourage each other” as we see the day approaching. Obviously, God knows we need some encouraging. God knows that the race is long and hard and he knows we will want to quit. God knows we need other people cheering us to keep going.
My question for you today is who are you encouraging? Who is encouraging you? Have you placed yourself in a small discipleship group where you can give and receive encouragement? I can imagine that Jesus’ group of twelve became a place of encouragement that they all needed. It is much easier to make it to the finish line when you have people in your corner who are cheering you on.
If you want to learn more about disciple making small groups check out impactdisciples.com .
