March 11, 2021 // 2 Chronicles 22:2-4 // Destructive Encouragement

Connections that Count |March 11, 2021

Believe it or not, there is a dark side to encouragement. Encouragement celebrates and stirs one to press forward in a particular direction. How is that ever a bad thing? It all depends on the focus and direction of our “encouragement”. Today we examine ways our words or deeds may be “encouraging” others to head in the wrong direction.

Read

2 Ahaziah was twenty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem one year. His mother’s name was Athaliah, a granddaughter of Omri. 3 He too followed the ways of the house of Ahab, for his mother encouraged him to act wickedly. 4 He did evil in the eyes of the Lord, as the house of Ahab had done, for after his father’s death they became his advisers, to his undoing.

2 Chronicles 22:2-4

Jesus said to his disciples: “Things that cause people to stumble are bound to come, but woe to anyone through whom they come. 2 It would be better for them to be thrown into the sea with a millstone tied around their neck than to cause one of these little ones to stumble. 3 So watch yourselves.” Luke 17:1

Reflect

Think back on your own journey, have others “encouraged” you to participate in specific sins or negative habits? What was the impact on your actions or beliefs?

· Do a honest heart check. Play through your weekly interactions in word and deed. Do you “encourage others to participate in sinful practices (gossip, slander, bitterness, divisiveness, vulgar language, greed, selfishness, etc.) or negative patterns? Usually this is not intentional! Think about all facets of your various interactions from home to your online life.

Apply

As you identify ways you “encourage” others to go in a negative or sinful direction, what are practical steps you can take to make a change this week? Perhaps you apologize to someone you have been encouraging to go in a bad direction. This might be as simple as confessing your “encouragement” of gossip, materialism, or simply bad habits.

Pray

Lord, I know you desire for my encouragement to lead to another’s growth, holiness and spiritual perseverance. I am sorry for the ways I may have encouraged others toward sin or bad habits. Reveal the subtle patterns where I am unaware. Show me your truth and give me a responsive heart. I ask for boldness to change direction and courage to apologize to those I have led astray. I want to build others up the way you have built me up! Amen!

Listen

Chris Tomlin, Give us Clean Hand