This week I was encouraged when I received a card in the mail from a friend. Encouragement is something that every human has an innate desire for. We all want to feel encouraged by others and to be known as an encourager. So is it possible for encouragement to be something that is negative? This is something that I’ve begun to think about this week.

What does the Bible say about encouragement? Is encouragement something that is always a positive thing or is negative at times? As I looked at Scripture I found verses like 2 Chronicles 35:2 where the Lord appointed and encouraged certain people to certain tasks, and Psalm 10:17 where I read that in times of affliction and upheaval in my life that the Lord hears my cry and that He is our encourager. Similarly, God’s Word and the Holy Spirit are also meant to be an encouragement to us as we read in Romans 15:4 and Acts 9:31. I also read passages where we are called to encourage others such as in Isaiah 1:17 and Hebrews 3:13.

But all of these instances were positive instances of encouragement and brought me no closer to answering my question of whether or not encouragement is always a positive thing.

Then I read about Ahaziah who was encouraged by his mother in 2 Chronicles 22. Now I am sure like many of you, when you receive encouragement from your mother it is most definitely the positive kind encouragement. My mother has always been one of my biggest encouragers and supporters, and the encouragement that I receive from her always makes me feel better, more confident, and more optimistic about life.

Ahaziah on the other hand had a mother that, as 2 Chronicles says, "...encouraged him in doing wrong. 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." Because of the encouragement he received, he did evil in the sight of the Lord. Another word for encouragement can sometimes be counsel, and Ahaziah was not getting very good counsel from his parents or his advisers and friends.

We have to be careful of two things when we are being encouraged. First we need to be wary of what it is that we are being encouraged to do, and second, we need to be aware that not all the advice/counsel/encouragement that we receive may be good even if it is coming form people that we love. The Lord is who should be our counselor and the one whom we are encouraged by.

He has sent us his Holy Spirit (Acts 9:31) to be our counselor along with his Word (Romans 15:4), which has been preserved in the Bible for millenia. This week I ask you to think about and ask yourself two things. First, ask yourself who it is that is encouraging you, and are they encouraging you toward righteous God honoring choices and life decisions, or evil, worldly, selfish choices that do not bring honor to yourself or God? Second, I would like you to ask of yourself who it is that you are encouraging. Be honest with yourself about whether you are someone who is bringing encouragement to others, as we read in Hebrews 3:13, or are you like Ahaziah’s mother, who is encouraging those around you toward decisions that are not God honoring and encouraging people to continue in their evil ways? (Ezekiel 13:22)