"Without connection, encouragement comes across as correction."
Heb 3:1-15
(v.13)-The NLT uses the word warn, while other translations use the word encourage. If you look up the greek word (parakaleo), you will read a definition that goes like this:
"encourage, request. The verb can mean to give comfort to another person, to urge a person toward action or a new thought pattern, to urgently request something, to cheer someone up, and so on. Generally, a positive attitude and desire to help is implied. The noun refers to the act itself of encouraging, requesting, ect."
Related scriptures are: Rom 15:4; 1 Cor 14:31; Phil 2:1; Col 2:2; 1 Thes. 5:11,14; 2 Thes. 3:12; 2 Tim. 4:2; Titus 2:15.
I looked up these other passages to answer my own question of what does encouragement look like and how does it express itself?
The pastor said if my heart is hard, my encouragement comes across as: Flattery, Manipulation, or Control.
I don't know how to do a lot of things, but I hope I can be a true encourager this year while being authentic, honest and real.
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