Christians get discouraged for many reasons, some of which I will mention. I also want to take a look at understanding discouragement, as I get the idea that some people get discouraged because they set their achievement goals too high. Others may be discouraged by a genuine failure and not sure if there is a way to recover. So, in order to share some encouragement, I intend to give examples of a simple strategy that a well-known New Testament writer uses over and over again. He definitely believed that it was a strategy that would cheer. See if he does that for you.
- DARKNESS
Discouragement is a loss if optimism makes you feel downcast and often lethargic. Discouragement is an experience that can cause you to question or give up some of your goals. The experience can range from short-lived to something more profound that can lead to feelings of depression.
Well, why are you bummed out? Something has turned out worse than you expected. That long-awaited promotion didn’t come, a relationship soured, exam results weren’t brilliant after all. Or maybe you tend to be self-critical, depressed with yourself. You think that you compare yourself unfavorably with others, or you had an argument with someone and now you regret the misunderstanding, you simply wanted to be more successful but you never reached the level and now life is slipping away from you and you are no longer young.
Some of these issues are undoubtedly temperamental. Some people with perfectionistic traits are never happy, because no matter what happens in life, the church, the pastor, the husband, the wife, the children, the house, the car, the weather, everything in life is imperfect and less than it should be.
- DO YOU DRIVE
If you are seriously discouraged, try to control it. Try to regain some realism and self-understanding. Sometimes a confidential conversation with a mature, responsible friend, your pastor or church leader, or a suitably qualified counselor can help. Therefore, this article is not a substitute for relevant and professional help.
Also remember that the historic Genesis fall of our first parents, the fall into sinful rebellion has affected our thinking, mind and body. Sometimes we can even hate or hate ourselves in an unhealthy way.
Now let’s see how Peter set out to encourage some of the early Christians. The strategy straight from God’s word is simple and straightforward. If you are a discouraged child of God, a person who has trusted in the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation, this is for you.
Look what Peter says; he says that by God’s ‘great mercy’ you have been ‘born again to a living hope’, you have received a rich inheritance that will never wither ‘stored up in heaven for you’ (1 Peter 1:4). So remember what you already know and refocus on the great and glorious things God has done for you. One way to attack discouragement is to recover hope, the strong and sure promises of God.
Peter reminds them that the salvation they have received did not come out of nowhere, totally unexpectedly, but was carefully revealed by various prophets in past centuries, when the ‘Spirit of Christ’ even ‘predicted the sufferings of Christ and the subsequent glories ‘ (1 Peter 1:11).
- PLAN
Peter says that the ministry of the Old Testament prophets was such that; “It was revealed to them that they did not serve themselves, but yourin the things that have now been announced to your through those who preached the good news to your by the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven, things into which angels long to look’ (1 Peter 1:12). They were serving ‘you’!
There are many other things that Peter says, but this small sample shows his strategy. How does it work? Here are exalted words that reveal the extent of sheer glory and the extraordinary lengths to which God has gone to save people to his own eternal glory and praise. So, Peter says, look at the wonder of what God has done for you.
Repeat how all these events and ministries and even the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ and the preaching of the great good news in the power of the Holy Spirit, all these amazing things, so far beyond human thought that they even baffle the astonished angelic powers in heaven. themselves, they were achieved with a special goal in view: they were all made for ‘you’! Does that spark your sense of wonder?
- FOR YOU!
Now we can see Peter’s strategy. He simply reminds Christians how great and wonderful and wonderful, almost beyond words, are all the things that God has done for us, as individuals, even for YOU. When someone does something for you that surprises you and makes you feel valued, you deeply appreciate it. Now, Peter applies that in a superior way to what God has done for each of his children. With this renewed sense of wonder, they find that they are given strong courage to persevere and give thanks to God, remembering that we walk by faith and not by sight.
Of course, this is not the only way to encourage Christians. This objective focuses on one of the ways that the Apostle Peter encourages Christians in his first letter by the teaching he shares on the exalted themes of all that God has done in Christ-Oh, how wonderful, how glorious! ! If such things have been done for you, why should you not renew your courage?
To God be the glory, great things he has done!