Spurring One Another

Hebrews 10:24 says, "And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds."

The author of Hebrews is exhorting Christians to use our minds and imaginations to consider a variety of ways to encourage one another to love and good works. Besides vocally encouraging someone toward love and good works, are there more creative (and possibly more effective) forms of exhortation?

I would suggest that allowing someone to see your good works is one form of godly exhortation. Although we should be wary of the dangers of man-pleasing driven obedience, we should also recognize that there is a place for allowing others to see our good deeds. My own experience is that seeing the faithfulness of fellow believers is one of the strongest motivations for my own obedience. When I see the connection between their heart-orientation toward God and the spiritual blessings that they experience, there's nothing that I want more than to be like them. I think that's one of the reasons why we have the hall of faith in Hebrews 11. We're supposed to witness inspiring stories of Christian faithfulness in order to be . . . well . . . inspired. For this reason, I think it's appropriate at times to allow others to witness your own faithfulness, given the right heart attitude. Didn't Paul himself boldly declare how much he labored and prayed for other people? Whenever someone tells me they've been praying for me, not only am I encouraged but I'm also exhorted to imitate them in a more prayerful lifestyle.

So this is my suggestion. Rather than going around telling other Christians to live a more holy life in order to fulfill Hebrews 10:24, perhaps you should simply seek to be a godly witness. As others see your faithfulness and the blessings you receive, they will undoubtedly be encouraged to follow in your footsteps. This concept has implications for how we worship on Sunday morning, but I'll save that for another blog. ;)