AMY TURNER
Hebrews 3 reminds Christians to strengthen one another so that sin does not harden their hearts. Encouragement is more than kind words meant to make someone feel better. In the New Testament, the word translated as “encourage” comes from a term that means to come alongside and give instruction or warning.
Encouragement does include compassion, kindness, and support, but it also involves speaking truth about sin. Real care for others is not only about lifting them up but also about helping them see when harmful choices are shaping their lives. Scripture even says that the wounds of a friend can be trusted, meaning that honest warnings given in love are one of the strongest acts of friendship.
Jesus gave direction in Matthew 18 that if someone sees a fellow believer in sin, they should approach them with concern, address the problem, and guide them back toward holiness.
True encouragement, then, is both gentle and serious. It comforts, but it also cautions, pointing people away from sin and toward the life God calls them to live.
But encourage one another every day, as long as it is still called “today,” so that none of you will be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.
Hebrews 3:13
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