Give Encouragement

Give Encouragement

Although most runners run alone or with one running partner, many affiliate with a running club or organization, often participating with members in a race to raise money for a ministry or charity. Besides giving and receiving encouragement and holding each other accountable for putting in the miles, members gain the satisfaction of working together to reach a higher goal.

Accountability, encouragement, working together—actually, that sounds like church. And speaking of church, here’s what the writer of Hebrews had to say about believers encouraging each other:

Let us hold tightly without wavering to the hope we affirm, for God can be trusted to keep his promise. Let us think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works. And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near. (Hebrews 10:23-25)

Christians should meet regularly for corporate worship, teaching, service, fellowship, and as this passage highlights, motivating and encouraging each other, especially because the finish line is close—“the day of [Christ’s] return is drawing near.”

The Runner

Oh, hi . . . what was the question? What church do I attend? Uh . . . CCC—that’s Central Community Congregation. You know, the big one downtown on Main Street.

How often do I attend? Well, I try to get there as often as possible. Of course, Christmas and Easter are a must—wouldn’t miss those services for anything. The music is incredible. And then . . . actually, I’d love to go more often . . . and I used to go every week, and not just Sunday mornings; we had a great small-group Bible study. But I got so busy at work, with trips and all. And now with the kids and their traveling teams (almost all the events conflict with church), we spend most of the weekend driving, and I bring my laptop to get stuff done during the breaks. On those free weekends, we welcome the break and sort of veg out at home.

Now I’m feeling guilty. I haven’t been in a while, and they (I mean “we”) have a new pastor, and he’s quite the preacher. I heard a sermon online and was impressed and even learned something. I suppose we should get back in the habit, but so much is going on . . . I don’t know what to give up.

The Race

These days, worship services and other church gatherings often get bumped by work responsibilities, social events, concerts, sports (races?), and other activities. We can easily take church for granted and not realize the value of “meeting together.” What a mistake!

The Hebrews passage begins with hope that is based upon God’s promises. Then the writer adds an intriguing line: “Let us think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works.” In other words, even though we know God and what he says in his Word, we need to be reminded and motivated . . . and encouraged. The clear implication is that when we neglect involvement and input from other believers, we may lose hope and stop living the way we should. We need each other.

The Result

Church is not just for receiving; it’s a place where we give—encouragement, leadership, service, motivation, and accountability. It’s where we use our spiritual gifts to glorify God and build up the body of Christ—his people in that place.

You have a valuable contribution to make. When you “neglect meeting together,” you are missed. Make church a priority, and go with the intention of encouraging someone.

My Story

In our couples’ small group, we had fun together, studied together, and even set exercise goals together. That may seem strange, but for us it just seemed logical. Our get-togethers would sometimes include “feats of strength” challenges--push-ups, sit-ups, pull-ups, wall sits, and for the more adventurous, handstand push-ups. Not only did we prepare by studying the week before, we also physically conditioned in anticipation of showing off our strength. Yes, we were competitive. We upped the next challenge as some of us decided to run the half marathon, farther than most of us had ever run. Pat, Dan, Jeremy, Alison, and I were on board, and our spouses supported it.

No problem, I thought. I run two to three times a week for about four miles at a time. I can work up to 13.1 miles, right? However, my training was sporadic at best. I ran six miles a few weekends before the race and eight miles another weekend with Jeremy in a thunderstorm.

The date arrived, and it was memorable--in a negative way. We had record-setting rain that weekend, and it rained during the whole race. It should have been called the Chicago half “rain and mudathon” because I had to run through a mud pit to get to the starting line. I was drenched, my shoes and legs were muddy, and I didn’t anticipate the pain after the race. Oh yeah, and the Band-Aids didn’t stick to my chest region very long.

I said I would never run that long of a distance ever again. Little did I know that two years later I would renege on that statement.

I had finished graduate school and completed a year-long project at work, and now I needed a new challenge. I worked out consistently but had never set a significant physical goal in my life. It was time to run the Chicago Marathon on 10-10-10, a memorable date for sure. My wife, Stephanie, didn’t take me seriously at first. Eventually she was on board, and I signed up with Team World Vision to raise money to help provide clean water to children in Africa. I had a new group to train with, and we scheduled runs together every Saturday morning starting eighteen weeks prior to the race. Did I mention the runs started at 6:00 a.m.? I’m not a morning person, but we did it to beat the summer heat. We had fun and were determined to train hard. When we gathered after our long training runs and then hobbled off to our cars, I was usually thinking, This is farther than I have ever run before; our bodies are amazing.

Family and friends gathered to cheer me on while I ran the marathon. They spread out along the course at twenty different locations. It was great seeing all of them--exactly what I needed despite the smiles I gave that I hoped would mask the pain and fatigue. The run was hard and everything didn’t go as planned, but I finished and I’m happy with my performance.

Groups helped enable me to be successful--family, friends, fellow marathon training partners, and Team World Vision all contributed to realizing my goal. Group bonds were formed, memories were created, and goals were achieved together.

Will I do this again? Absolutely!

Steven

Think It Through

1. What running groups are you aware of? What has been your relationship with them?

2. What groups of Christians do you regularly meet with (worship service, Sunday school class, small group, committee or board, etc.)? How have you been encouraged by those meetings and individuals in those groups?

3. What hinders you from becoming more involved in church? Who do you think you could encourage there?

4. What steps will you take to make regular involvement in church a priority for you? What will you do to encourage your brothers and sisters in Christ?

On Running

What should I eat after I run?

You should replace lost carbohydrates right after running—the first two hours are crucial. Sports drinks can be very beneficial. A small amount of protein with your carbohydrates will help more glycogen to form. (Glycogen is the stored energy in your muscles—the body’s primary source of energy.) Without a good store of glycogen, your body will not recover well and give you the energy you need for your next workout. Also, within the first four hours you’ll want to consume 1.5 grams of carbohydrate per kilogram of body weight so you fully replenish your glycogen.