How To Encourage A Friend?

How to encourage a friend is by treating them how you would like to be treated!

Encourage A Friend! NeedEncouragement.com

We All Need Good Friends To Help Us Along The Way! 

Please contact us if you have questions or if you need some encouragement.

Being a good friend is not just about having someone to hang out with or share secrets with. It goes much deeper than that. To have a faithful and loyal friend, you must be willing to invest time and effort into the relationship. How to encourage a friend? Sometimes, it can be easy, and other times, it is somewhat difficult. You can help to uplift someone spiritually when you are aware that they are struggling, like with a loved one’s death, divorce, loss of a job, etc.. You can pray for the person you want to encourage in times like these. Remember that letting someone know you’ve prayed for them can be a great way to tell them that you care. It can also start a meaningful conversation, and it’s powerful for your friend to know that you’ve taken their situation to God.

One Of The Best Ways To Be A Good Friend Is By Encouraging Others In Every Way Possible. You Can Make Them Feel Loved And Appreciated By Spending Quality Time Together, Being Loving And Honest With Them, Whether Going For A Walk, Watching A Movie, Or Simply Chatting On The Phone. Sending Cards Or Texts Can Also Go A Long Way In Letting Your Friends Know They Are Valued And Cherished!

Remember that you can’t put perfume on someone without getting a little on yourself.

The poem “Make new friends, keep the old, the new are silver, the old are gold” reminds us that friendships are precious gifts that should be treasured like gold. We should strive to maintain our relationships while being open to forming new ones.  ~ Bill Greguska

Proverbs 17:17  A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for a time of adversity.

 

 

 

When You Encourage A Friend ~ You Too Will Be Encouraged!

Encourage a friend as often as you can! NeedEncouragement.com

Ten Ways To Discover Encouragement For Yourself:

  1. Encouragement for Relationships
  2. Encouragement to End an Addiction
  3. Encouragement for Your Faith 
  4. Encouragement from Many Topics
  5. Encouragement to Pray Daily
  6. Encouragement from our Ideas List
  7. Encouragement via Chatting
  8. Encouragement from our Sitemap 
  9. Encouragement from a Free Bible
  10. Encouragement from My Book

Find out what God’s Word says about your situation and what to do about it ~ Click here.

 

 

What Are Five Ways To Encourage Your Friends?

Find Simple Ways To Honor God And Help Others!

 

 

 

 

Seven Ways to Encourage Others!

How to see things more clearly? NeedEncouragement.com

Learn how to encourage others and be a good friend!

  1. Pray for them when you are together and at home alone.
  2. Point them to a saving knowledge of who Jesus Christ is.
  3. Show them in tangible ways that you care about them.
  4. Tell them verbally that you care.
  5. Tell them in writing that you care.
  6. Offer to spend time with them or help them with a project.
  7. Please share with others how much you care about them.
  8. Trust them with more responsibilities.
  9. Remind them about their good qualities.
  10. Help them be the best that they can be.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

One Motivational Way To Encourage A Friend!

 

Ideas To Encourage A Friend ~ Or Make A Friend:

  1. Bake something and share it with friends.
  2. Be a bingo caller. Nursing homes are filled with people who have very few visitors.
  3. Buy something for someone else. Buy the person’s hamburger in a drive-through. Pay for someone’s gas.
  4. Buy someone some flowers.
  5. Celebrate accomplishments. Large or small.
  6. During your quiet time, lift friends in prayer.
  7. Give a hug. Studies have shown that hugs lower blood pressure and heighten your sense of belonging.
  8. Give a sincere compliment.
  9. Help a friend move. With the help of a friend, the burden drastically gets reduced.
  10. Lend a helping hand anywhere and at any time.
  11. Listen. Sit down with a friend for a soda or cup of coffee and let them talk.
  12. Make a meal for someone.

More Ideas To Encourage A Friend ~ Or Make A Friend:

  1. Mow a yard, rake some leaves, and shovel snow for an elderly or disabled person.
  2. Pass along a book that changed your life to some degree.
  3. Praise a parent.
  4. Pray with someone immediately when they share a need.
  5. Please send a card in the mail, letting someone know you’re thinking of them.
  6. Send someone serving in the military a care package.
  7. Tell someone how they have encouraged you in the past.
  8. Thank someone. Many people work behind the scenes, so let them know you are grateful for their help.
  9. Use social media to pass along thoughtful words.
  10. Volunteer to watch kids. Let parents have a date night.
  11. Volunteer. This almost becomes a selfish act because of how amazing you feel after assisting. Make a difference with Special Olympics, the local food bank, or the homeless shelter.
  12. When introducing someone, please share a few words about their talent or gift.
  13. Write a handwritten letter or email someone’s boss for someone who went out of their way to serve you particularly thoughtfully. Let the boss know how happy that made you.

 

 

Seven Tips for Confronting a Friend in Sin

Scripture also teaches us how to confront a Christian friend in their sin. As we mentioned, these conversations are not easy, but as members of the family of God, they are necessary. And as with everything God has called us to do, he gives us wisdom in his word to know how to obey our calling. The following are seven biblical principles for addressing sin in a friend’s life:

 

1. Confront yourself first.

Personal humility is necessary when confronting someone else’s sin. Before you judge the sin of another, first repent of the sin in your life (Matt. 7:3–5). Prayerfully examine yourself and confess any known sin. Forsake self-righteousness or hypocrisy, which would dishonor God and hinder your message. Prepare to speak with your friend by asking God to grant you wisdom, protection from sin, and genuine love for her (1 Kings 3:10–12; Gal. 1:6; 1 John 4:11).

2. Confront from a loving heart.

Speak with grace and affection to your friend. Paul boldly opposed sin among God’s people, but a tender love also characterized his appeals for their repentance. He didn’t seek to belittle or shame them (1 Cor. 4:14). Rather, he addressed their sin with compassion: “For I wrote to you out of much affliction and anguish of heart and with many tears, not to cause you pain but to let you know the abundant love that I have for you” (2 Cor. 2:4). In the same way, speak to your friend from a heart of love and mercy. Christians love each other well when they address one another’s sins with Christlike love.

 

3. Confront at the right time.

Before you address a friend’s sin, consider the best time to have that conversation. Is it a time when she can listen, pay attention, and receive what you say? Or is your friend busy, tired, distracted, or emotionally upset? If so, trust God’s providence and wait to speak with her later. Remember the wisdom of “the Preacher” in Ecclesiastes: “. . . the wise heart will know the proper time and the just way” (Eccl. 8:5).

 

4. Confront the most critical matters.

Your role as a Christian friend isn’t to address every infraction of God’s righteousness you may see in others. Jesus rebuked the Pharisees for their self-righteousness as they placed greater importance on secondary issues while neglecting “the weightier matters of the law” (Matt. 23:23–24). Likewise, don’t focus your attention on your friend’s minor offenses. Instead, reserve your confrontations for unrepentant sin that is a clear violation of God’s word, harms herself and others, and dishonors the Lord in a public way. Lovingly overlook her occasional failings with a spirit of grace and forgiveness (1 Pet. 4:8).

 

 

What Are Some Words That Can Encourage A Friend? 

 

Continued: Seven Tips for Confronting a Friend in Sin

5. Confront with Scripture.

When confronting a friend, base your concerns on clear biblical truth. The standard of righteous living is the word of God and not your personal opinions. Your role as a fellow believer is to remind or inform your friend of what Scripture says about her sin and her need to turn from it. Instead of trying to convince her with your arguments, discuss Scripture with her and trust the Holy Spirit to convict her according to the truth of his word (Ez. 36:27; 1 Tim. 3:16–17).

 

6. Confront confidentially.

Be careful to keep the matters you discuss with your friend confidential. Unless your friend is going to harm someone (including herself) or shares something with you that must be reported to the civil authorities, guard her privacy and friendship. (Also, according to Matthew 18:16–17, if she proves to be unrepentant in time, you are to have another person join your conversations.) Love her by avoiding gossip at all costs: “Whoever goes about slandering reveals secrets, but he who is trustworthy in spirit keeps a thing covered” (Prov. 11:13). As a faithful friend, you’ve confronted her sin. Now, as a loyal friend, you should protect her reputation.

 

7. Confront and then provide accountability.

If your friend receives what you say to her, recognizes the sin in her life, and repents of it, you now have an opportunity to provide her with accountability. She may struggle with temptation and establishing new, God-honoring choices. She may need encouragement or instruction on how to live a holy life. Consider how you can help her to grow in love and godliness (Heb. 10:24). Pray with her. Share Scripture and biblical insights. Ask questions about her progress. Always point her to Christ, her Savior and Lord.

 

Keep the Goal in Mind

Always remember the primary goal of confronting your friend in her sin—to restore her to a right relationship with God. When she confesses her sin, God will readily forgive her. As she repents, he’ll grow her faith and obedience into greater Christlikeness. Please give thanks for the privilege of being used as a vessel of his truth and grace in your friend’s life. And even if she doesn’t turn from her sin at first, continue to pursue her with gentleness for the Lord’s sake: “Be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain” (1 Cor. 15:58).

Cheryl Marshall and Caroline Newheiser are authors of When Words Matter Most: Speaking Truth with Grace to Those You Love.

 

 

Encouragement Resource Links:

Biblical Encouragement Encouraging Scriptures
Do Not Quit Encouraging Words
Encourage A Friend General Encouragement
Encouragement Importance Of Encouragement
Encouragement Ideas Need Understanding
Encouragement For Men Need Encouragement
Encouragement For Singles Personal Encouragement
Encouragement For Teens Self Encouragement
Encouragement For Women Simple Encouragement
Encourage Someone Words Of Encouragement
Encourage Yourself Worrying

 

 

 

How Are You Encouraging Your Friends?

 

How To Encourage A Friend Or Family Member Today?

Diana Greguska NeedEncouragement.com

My mom encouraged me my entire life, and I was blessed to assist her in the last eight years of her life!

When encouraging someone, there must be trust and respect! Encourage a friend when they reach out to you or even when you see them not being themselves. You know, when they seem occupied with something on their mind. God says we should love and encourage one another, which is what we should do! You can help someone by just spending time with them!

Being an encourager means putting yourself in your friend’s shoes and considering what would lift their spirits during tough times. Treating others as you would want to be treated isn’t just a saying from childhood; it’s still applicable today when cultivating strong friendships. In summary, if you want to have good friends who will stick around through thick and thin, then show up for them consistently! Encouraging words cost nothing but mean everything – so take some time today (and every day) to think of ways to uplift those closest in your life because they deserve all the love & support available!

Share encouragement with them whenever you have the opportunity. Relate to their struggles by sharing how you dealt with a similar situation you had. ~ Bill Greguska

 

 

How Do I Become An Encouragement To Others? How To Encourage A Friend?

  1. There isn’t only one “right way” to encourage each other, but here are a few ideas to help you get started.
  2. Pray for God to make you an encourager. Ask him to give you a heart that loves others and the creativity to show it. Ask him to help you die to self-centeredness and grow in a desire to build others up. Because God delights in helping his people obey his commands, we can trust His Spirit will teach us how to bless others for their glory and spiritual good.
  3. Study Barnabas and ask God to make you like him. Barnabas was nicknamed the “son of encouragement” by the early church (Acts 4:36). He was the kind of guy you wanted to have around as you were serving the Lord. He wasn’t just a spiritual cheerleader but a man of great conviction who wanted to see the church flourish and did all he could to make it happen. Ask God to give you and your church a heart like Barnabas.
  4. Make encouragement a daily discipline. For some of us, motivation comes naturally; for others, not so much. I have a reminder in my calendar each day to send someone an encouraging note, email, text, or phone call. I need this reminder to pause, pray, and then intentionally try to spur someone on in Christ.
  5. Pray for God to show you who to encourage. Ask God to bring someone to mind to whom you should reach out. One way to do this is by praying through your church’s membership directory.

 

Six More Ways To Encourage Others! How To Encourage A Friend?

  1. Use Scripture if you’re able. Nothing encourages us like promises from God’s Word. Make a list of Scriptures that God has used to bless you personally or an excerpt from something you read in your daily devotional. Mine are the Psalms, Romans 8, and the Gospels. Find and share the riches of God’s grace with others.
  2. Be specific in what you say. Reading my friend’s note humbled me and reminded me of my life. I was humbled and reminded that God works in and through me when I read it. I needed that.
  3. Encourage your pastor regularly. If your pastor says something that God uses, tell him about it. Don’t expect him to write back, but send a few lines in a card or an email. Nothing encourages a pastor like hearing how God used a sermon or counseling session to work in your life.
  4. Pray that God will create a culture of encouragement in your church. Ask God to make your church a community that loves each other in specific, tangible ways like encouragement. Ask God to use you to help fan that flame. Don’t get discouraged if people don’t return your motivation (Matthew. 6:3-4; Ephesians 6:3-8) or if you don’t see fruit from it (Galatians 6:9-10). Creating a church culture that glorifies God takes a long time, prayers, and abundant grace. I encourage you to keep at it.
  5. Be wise. If you want to encourage someone of the opposite sex, use discernment in how best to do it. If I promote a single sister in the congregation, I will tell my wife and copy her on the email. If I were encouraging a married sister, I would again tell my wife and copy her and the husband of the person I’m encouraging. You can also use that to encourage both the husband and wife.
  6. Get started. Who can you encourage right now? Who has blessed you recently that you can thank? What verse can you share with them? How might God use it?

 

May the Lord do more than we can imagine through a bit of encouragement (Ephesians 3:20-21).
Editor’s note: This article originally appeared on Garrett’s site, “All Things for Good.”
By Garrett Kell

 

 

How To Be Good To Others? How To Encourage A Friend?

 

Encourage One Another

(This section is from The Book I wrote)

Lord, my life’s goal is to encourage others in any way possible.  Thank you for allowing me to care for my mother during her final eight years until her passing at 93. I enjoyed encouraging her by meeting her needs, which seemed right since she helped me for years when I faced many difficulties. You teach us to love one another, not be Lone Rangers.

Lord, we know how good it feels to be encouraged – but we often overlook how good it feels to encourage someone else!  After all, if I put perfume on someone, I smell sweet, too! I have been amazed by how my acts of kindness lift my spirits. Even better, my actions can also point others to you. I have learned the need to be cautious and use discretion to know if you are leading me. If I cannot help someone physically, I can always lighten their spirits by praying for them.

Please help me never lose sight of the fact that encouraging others and doing good works does not get me automatically into heaven. Only by your sacrifice am I right with you, not by good deeds that I can do or the nice things I can say. I have learned the need to be cautious and use discretion to know when you are leading me. If I can not help someone physically, I can always encourage them spiritually by praying for them. But again, this, too, does not get me into heaven.

Lord, I don’t help others to get into heaven. Accepting your sacrifice makes me right with you, not anything I do or say. Thank you for allowing me to show your love to others as a response to my salvation.

“God has placed within each of us an immeasurable, unique gift. It is our duty to live that out to the full and to encourage one another with gusto.” ~ Merle Dandridge is a Japanese-born American actress and singer.

NeedEncouragement.com/encouragement

 

 

Some Specific Scriptures To Encourage You:

Proverbs 18:24 ESV

A man of many companions may come to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.

John 15:13 ESV 

Greater love has no one than this that someone lay down his life for his friends.

Proverbs 27:17 ESV 

Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another.

John 15:12 ESV 

“This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.

Proverbs 16:28 ESV 

A dishonest man spreads strife, and a whisperer separates close friends.

Proverbs 22:24-25 ESV 

Make no friendship with a man given to anger, nor go with a wrathful man, lest you learn his ways and entangle yourself in a snare.

Matthew 18:15 ESV “If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother.

 

Find Hope And Encouragement From Our Links!

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