I will start off by asking the question. What is encouragement? Or what is the opposite of encouragement? I’m sure most of you know what the opposite would be which is tearing people down. So what does it mean to encourage one another as brothers and sisters in Christ? Maybe before you 'jokingly' insult someone you tell yourself , "Oh they know I’m kidding. They know I don’t mean it." But ask yourself this. Do they really know your joking? Maybe they start laughing and it appears that they don’t care.

It can be hard to tell because in reality they may not care! But maybe deep down inside, they take what you say to heart and begin to judge themselves by what you say even if they don’t intend to. For example, when people 'jokingly' insult me I will sometimes think nothing about it. However other times I will take it to heart. I will think about it and judge myself by it, even without knowing it. The point here is that God calls us to encourage one another whether you like the person or not. They are still loved by God and what you say can still be hurtful. So I ask you as well as myself to make a goal to encourage and lift each other up every day.

Therefore encourage each other with these words. -- 1 Thessalonians 4:18