Gifts for one another

Some of the best gifts we give cost us much, but we do not buy them.

The over 50 "one another" phrases in the New Testament prescribe actions we take as gifts to each other. Phrases like "encourage one another" (1 Thess. 5:11), "bear with one another" (Eph. 4:2), forgive one another (Eph. 4:32), and love one another (1 John 3:11). Simple but powerful gifts.

One of the costliest gifts you can give is encouragement. We live in a day when we quickly get discouraged and are often told that we are not enough. To sell their products, advertisers will tell us you are too old, you need this wrinkle cream. You would be happier with this new car. Your clothes are out of fashion you need new ones. Plenty of messages that tell us we do not measure up.[1]

Max Lucado tells the story of two cows grazing in a pasture when a milk truck drove by. On one side of the truck were the words "pasteurized, homogenized, standardized, vitamin A added." Noticing this, one cow said to the other, "Makes you kind of feel inadequate, doesn't it?" [2]

In 1 Thessalonians, Paul delivers the command to "encourage one another." In the original language of the Bible, the word encourage is comprised of two words. The first is the word pará, which means besides or near. The word parallel from this term. So to encourage someone, you come alongside them. Whether in person, on the phone, in a text message, or a notecard, you come near to them. The discouraged should never be alone because you are beside them.

The second part that makes "encourage" is the word kaleo, which means to call or to speak. Together the words describe someone who comes alongside another and speaks with them. Summons them by name. Someone who enters into a battle against discouragement with encouraging words. The right word at the right time is the greatest weapon against discouragement.

Proverbs 16:24 says, "Gracious words are like a honeycomb, sweetness to the soul and health to the body. The words you use can be bitter or sweet. They can be welcomed or unpleasant. They can build up or destroy. This Christmas being an encourager is one of the best gifts you can give to one another.

[1] Max Lucado, How Happiness Happens, (Nashville; Thomas Nelson, 2019), 20.

[2] Ibid.