{"id":85100,"date":"2025-02-26T10:15:40","date_gmt":"2025-02-26T16:15:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/?p=85100"},"modified":"2025-02-26T10:15:40","modified_gmt":"2025-02-26T16:15:40","slug":"discouragement-or-encouragement","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/discouragement-or-encouragement\/","title":{"rendered":"Discouragement or Encouragement"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\t<p>by Joe Works<\/p>\n<h2>The Bad News<\/h2>\n<p>I have a confession &#8230;<\/p>\n<p>I sometimes feel discouraged, and you may be my source of discouragement. I generally consider myself a pretty happy guy, so I hope my discouragement comes as a little shock to you. Social media, for me, is a place to see friends and lift each other up. But for some of you, it appears to be a place to rant, often passive-aggressively, about our national leaders. I&#8217;m curious about what you think you&#8217;re accomplishing. It&#8217;s like yelling at the TV when your sports team makes a mistake. They can&#8217;t hear you and wouldn&#8217;t care if they did.<\/p>\n<p>Here is what I think you are accomplishing:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Looking like you have answers about world events because you have about .01% insight into what is actually happening behind the scenes. Stop that. (Romans 12:3, 16).<\/li>\n<li>Stirring up negative feelings in people that you actually care about. Stop that. (Romans 12:10).<\/li>\n<li>Distracting yourself and others from eternally important things. <strong>Stop that!<\/strong> (Roman&#8217;s 12:2)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Do your posts, comments, and even &#8220;likes&#8221; reflect &#8220;If possible, so far as it depends on you, be at peace with all men&#8221; (Romans 12:18)?<\/p>\n<p>If you&#8217;ve read this far, please know that those of you who use social media for godly and goodly (and even goofy) purposes encourage me immensely. Don&#8217;t stop doing that.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Important note:<\/strong> Don&#8217;t feel sorry for me for being discouraged. I hope to use that to improve myself in person and on social media.<\/p>\n<h2>The Good News<\/h2>\n<p>Where do I find encouragement? Seeing what is behind the scenes. Just a few examples &#8230;<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>\u00a0I see others holding up the hands of those with a difficult task ahead of them (Deuteronomy 3:28). Each time I see pictures of someone going to a different place to hear God&#8217;s word, I also see the dozens of people staying behind to make that mission possible. I see you, and God does, too.<\/li>\n<li>Seeing children singing and studying their Bibles. I see dedicated parents wanting their children to have trust and hope in Yahweh. I see a young mom who struggles to make it to the end of the day without crying because she feels overwhelmed and a dad who sees himself as inadequate to be the kind of head God wants him to be. But they keep on going. I see you, and God does, too.<\/li>\n<li>Seeing older saints bent over, hair not what it used to be, needing assistance standing up, walking, and sitting down. I see the souls of people who have worn their bodies out, trying to serve others as best as they know how. As they need help now, I see how they have spent themselves guiding others to the Lord when they rose up, walked along the way, and sat down (Deuteronomy 6:7). I see you, and God does, too.<\/li>\n<li>When I see you, I see the grace of God. How much more patient I can be with others when I know God has touched and is touching their lives, just as He has mine. When Barnabas saw the Gentile Christians in Antioch, the text tells us he &#8220;<em>saw the grace of God and was glad<\/em>&#8221; (Acts 11:23). When I see you, it makes me glad. God sees you, too.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>These are just a few things that encourage me as I seek to be a better Joe. Your list probably looks different from mine, and that&#8217;s okay. But may I challenge you to find encouragement today\u00a0<strong>and\u00a0<\/strong>seek to encourage someone else? And not just on social media, but in real life, where it matters more!<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>by Joe Works The Bad News I have a confession &#8230; I sometimes feel discouraged, and you may be my source of discouragement. I generally consider myself a pretty happy guy, so I hope my discouragement comes as a little shock to you. Social media, for me, is a place to see friends and lift&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[27],"tags":[1576,357],"class_list":["post-85100","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-discouraged","tag-encouragement"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":56095,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/encouragement-2\/","url_meta":{"origin":85100,"position":0},"title":"Encouragement","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 24, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"by Steven Harper\u00a0 Previously,\u00a0we considered the problem of\u00a0discouragement, which [by definition] is depriving one of courage; this week, let us consider its opposite:\u00a0encouragement. Encouragement, by definition, is\u00a0to inspire with courage. It means\u00a0to stimulate by assistance, approval, etc. It is, again, the opposite of discouragement and we can hopefully see which\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Article&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/11\/enncourage-240x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":55871,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/discouragement\/","url_meta":{"origin":85100,"position":1},"title":"Discouragement","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 16, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"by Steven Harper Some disciples have an erroneous idea that it is somehow sinful for a follower of God to be discouraged, even for a moment. This idea is probably a result of so much teaching and preaching on the idea that Christians\u00a0should not be discouraged, or that we have\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Article&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/11\/discouraged-300x200.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":68665,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/notes-on-discouragement\/","url_meta":{"origin":85100,"position":2},"title":"Notes on Discouragement","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 2, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Isaiah 40:31 Matthew 11:28-30 Philippians 4:13","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Notes&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Notes","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/notes\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":29256,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/do-not-grow-weary\/","url_meta":{"origin":85100,"position":3},"title":"Do Not Grow Weary","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 30, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"by Joel Moore It was 2007 and I was in a very rural part of the southernmost state of Mexico: Chiapas. My dad and I had been in the car all day (or, at least, what seemed like all day), had preached at two churches, and spent time with the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Article&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/tired-300x200.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":91278,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/encouragement-hebrews-1019-25\/","url_meta":{"origin":85100,"position":4},"title":"Encouragement: Hebrews 10:19-25","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 16, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Steve Roe via Sentry Magazine, Vol. 18 No. 1, 31 March 1992 When considering why people leave the church, it's essential to look at the situation objectively. Before condemning those who have decided to depart, the first place we should look for answers is in the mirror. As we\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Article&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1407,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/son-of-encouragement\/","url_meta":{"origin":85100,"position":5},"title":"Son of Encouragement","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 5, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Text: Hebrews :7-14 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The Scriptures tell us of an interesting man \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0His name was Joseph and he was from the island of Cyprus, though he was a Jew -- a Levite in particular. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0B.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0No one remembers him by his true name, everyone calls him by his nickname. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0C.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u201cBar\u201d =\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Sermon&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Sermon","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/sermon\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85100","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=85100"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85100\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=85100"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=85100"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=85100"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}