The First Letter: A Call to Encourage

The days are difficult, but remember Jesus who overcame and the truth that we are also called to overcome.

Dear pilgrim, I am writing these letters to encourage you to persevere on the path of the Lord. Know that while I do this, I am also being strengthened, because in order to teach, we must learn.

These days are difficult, but remember that Jesus overcame and the truth that we are also called to overcome.

You may wonder if such encouragement is necessary. Believe me, I asked myself this same question and found the answer I needed in the Word of God.

While I was researching the topic of encouragement in the Bible, I came across the apostle Paul, and the times he thanked his brothers in Christ for their presence and the way the Lord strengthened him through each of them.

In Acts 20:2, we are told that while the apostle was in the land of Macedonia, he took care to encourage the disciples who were there, strengthening them “with many words (or exhortations).”

Paul passed on the encouragement he received from God, and that is wonderful!

The Lord knows how many times I have needed and still need to be strengthened in my Christian walk. Whether through Bible reading, prayer (mainly), Christian books, preaching, through my parents, fellowship with my brothers in church, BBN radio programming, in short, through all of this the Lord has already comforted me and I realized that I had not passed this comfort on, as the apostle Paul did and exhorts us to do daily.

See:

“Therefore comfort one another and build each other up, just as you are doing.” (1 Thess 5:11)

Regarding this verse, we see that “the believer not only builds himself up, he is built up by others.”

I completely agree with this statement by Pastor Hernandes Dias Lopes, who also adds that it is part of our job to comfort, console and strengthen with the truth that there is a glorious life with Christ waiting for us. For we are pilgrims and strangers in this world, heading home!

The Lord did not make us for ourselves. We are the branches of the vine that is Christ, and the fruit is not for the enjoyment of the tree itself, but for others to enjoy.

Furthermore, Jesus came to serve (see Mark 10:45), leaving us this same mission, and encouragement is one of the simplest and at the same time one of the most valuable ways to serve others.

An example of the Lord Jesus encouraging his disciples occurs when the apostles saw Jesus walking on the sea. They thought it was a ghost, but the Lord said to them: “Take heart; it is I; do not be afraid” (Mark 6:48-51). At another time, after being resurrected, Jesus says: “And lo, I am with you always, to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:20b).

How much comfort there is on the part of our Lord in His Words!

Thus, we can see that we are all called to encourage. The Lord has done so much for us, and what will we do when we see our brothers and sisters lacking the courage to continue their journey?

May our impulse be to exhort and encourage, always pointing to Christ, talking about what He has done and continues to do for each one of us.

And it was this need that motivated me to write these letters. I will share some tips for daily Christian life, difficulties and trials that I have gone through, and I pray that through all of this, the Lord may lead you to look in the right direction, because our strength is not in our own arms, but in the One who lives within us!

Fraternal hugs from your sister in Christ.

KLTJ (keep looking to Jesus).

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