God Encourages; You Should Too

Blessed be the God . . . the Father of mercies.

2 Corinthians 1:3

In the New Testament, each member of the triune God (God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit) places a priority on encouragement.

Paul wrote to the Corinthians, “Blessed be the God . . . the Father of mercies [encouragement]” (2 Corinthians 1:3). In one of his letters to the Thessalonians, Paul reminded his readers that Jesus Christ is also, at the very core of His ministry, an encourager (2 Thessalonians 2:16–17).

And what can we say about the Holy Spirit? “Encourager” is one of His names! The King James Bible says of the Holy Spirit (in John 14 and 16), “However when He the Comforter is come. . . .” The title “Comforter” translates the word paraklete, which means “to encourage.” When we encourage people, we live out the ministry of the third Person of the Trinity. He is the Encourager.

God the Father encourages. God the Son encourages. God the Holy Spirit encourages. We need to be encouragers because encouragement is one of the primary ministries—in fact, it’s a priority of our triune God.