Christians often wonder, “What does it take to make a congregation successful?” Or, phrased differently, they ask, “How can our church better equip Christians to live like Christ?” The answer does not lie in having a wide range of ministries, nor does it have to do with breaking away from tradition. Rather, encouragement is one of the most effective practices to cause your church to grow. For the early church, encouragement was of the utmost importance for the church. In order to be prepared for the Lord’s second coming, Paul told the church to encourage and build one another up (1 Thess. 5:4). The author of Hebrews, who was writing to a church suffering much pressure from the world, commanded the church to encourage one another daily (Heb. 3:13). In fact, encouraging other Christians is one of the main reasons we should gather together as a body (Heb. 10:24–25).

The Christian life is anything but easy. The world will try and discourage us and cause us to slack off, be embittered, or give up our faith altogether. We need to constantly remind each other of the truth and why we began to take up our crosses. If you cannot visit with someone to encourage them, call or text them to keep fighting the good fight. Write thoughtful, encouraging letters to your brothers and sisters. If you need encouragement yourself, call someone who you know could encourage you or read the Scriptures (Rom. 15:4b). We always need encouragement to stay faithful in order to overcome the world (1 John 5:4).