The Spiritual Gift of Encouragement (Exhortation)

A friend texts you after a hard week, and it's exactly what you needed. Or someone tells you plainly that you're drifting, and you know they love you. Both are encouragement in the Bible's sense. Paul's word in Romans 12:8, paraklēsis, can mean comfort or urging, which is why older translations call this gift exhortation.

Paul tells the whole church to "encourage and build one another up" (1 Thessalonians 5:11). People with this gift seem to do it by instinct. They know when to sit with someone and when to urge them to keep going, and their words point people back to Christ.

Barnabas is the clearest example. The apostles gave him a name meaning "Son of Encouragement" (Acts 4:36). When the disciples in Jerusalem were afraid of the newly converted Saul, Barnabas brought him to the apostles and told them his story (Acts 9:26-27).

Hebrews tells believers to "exhort one another daily, as long as it is called today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin's deceitfulness" (Hebrews 3:13). Encouragement of that kind can sound a lot like a warning.

• You remember a friend's surgery is Tuesday and send a verse Monday night.
• You tell the teenager who read Scripture in church that he did well.
• People tell you hard things, and you can be honest without crushing them.
• When someone wants to quit, you remind them what God has promised.

• Flattery. Empty praise doesn't help anyone for long.
• Avoiding hard words because you want to be liked (Proverbs 27:6).
• Giving advice when someone needs you to listen.
• Feeling responsible for everyone's mood.

• Pick a few people to write to each week, and send the notes.
• Learn the name of someone new at church and follow up that week.
• Tell a discouraged friend one specific thing you see God doing in them.
• Tie your encouragement to a promise from Scripture.