By Clement Harrold

June 19, 2025

Discouragement is something we all face at different points in our lives. Whether it’s the evils in our world, the corruption in our Church, difficulties in our families, or simply our own human frailty—there’s plenty of things which can get us down. Amid these different struggles, Sacred Scripture offers us help and inspiration. With its stories of weary prophets, Psalms of lament, and continual human failing, the Bible offers us a profoundly hopeful vision of a God who knows our weakness and encourages us in all our trials.

“Encourage Yourselves Daily”

The New Testament speaks clearly about the importance of encouraging one another in the Lord:

Encourage yourselves daily while it is still “today,” so that none of you may grow hardened by the deceit of sin. (Heb 3:13 NABRE)

Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing. (1 Thess 5:11)

The Greek verb which the New Testament uses for “encourage” is parakaleó. It is a rich word which can also mean “exhort” or even “comfort.” At one point in his letters, St. Paul describes God as the one who consoles (encourages) the downcast (see 2 Cor 7:6). Earlier in the same letter, Paul advises us to seek comfort (encouragement) in God:

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort [paraklēseōs], who comforts [parakalōn] us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort [parakalein] those who are in any affliction, with the comfort [paraklēseōs] with which we ourselves are comforted [parakaloumetha] by God. For as we share abundantly in Christ’s sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort [paraklēsis] too. (2 Cor 1:3-5)

For Paul, God the Father is an encouraging God who gives us His Son to comfort us in all our afflictions.

This message is reflected in the Acts of the Apostles, which emphasizes the need for encouragement more than any other New Testament book. Repeatedly the book describes how the early Christians would go out of their way to pray together and build each other up. Consider Paul’s conduct in Antioch, shortly after he was stoned by the Jews and left for dead:

The next day he went on with Barnabas to Derbe. After they had proclaimed the good news to that city and had made many disciples, they returned to Lystra, then on to Iconium and Antioch. There they strengthened the souls of the disciples and encouraged them to continue in the faith, saying, “It is through many persecutions that we must enter the kingdom of God.” (Acts 14:20-22)

There is something fitting in the fact that Paul’s companion on this visit was Barnabas, whose name means “son of encouragement” (Acts 4:36). The theme of encouragement is continued throughout the Acts of the Apostles:

Judas and Silas, who were themselves prophets, said much to encourage and strengthen the believers. (Acts 15:32)

After leaving the prison [Paul and Silas] went to Lydia’s home; and when they had seen and encouraged the brothers and sisters there, they departed. (Acts 16:40)

After the uproar had ceased, Paul sent for the disciples; and after encouraging them and saying farewell, he left for Macedonia. When he had gone through those regions and had given the believers much encouragement, he came to Greece, where he stayed for three months. (Acts 20:1-3)

Surely these passages contain important lessons for us. How often do we go out of our way to affirm and strengthen our brothers and sisters who are feeling discouraged or overwhelmed?

Power Made Perfect in Weakness

Part and parcel of the biblical recipe for authentic encouragement is the recognition that we are weak human beings—and in a sense, that’s okay! This was something St. Paul had to learn after he prayed repeatedly for God to free him from his mysterious “thorn in the flesh”:

And to keep me from being too elated by the abundance of revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan, to harass me, to keep me from being too elated. Three times I besought the Lord about this, that it should leave me; but he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” I will all the more gladly boast of my weaknesses, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities; for when I am weak, then I am strong. (2 Cor 12:7-10)

Through his trials, St. Paul discovered that it is precisely our weakness and frailty which provides the most fertile ground for God to strengthen and perfect us. Paul’s coming to terms with this reality is attested to earlier in his letter:

For it is the God who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ. But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, to show that the transcendent power belongs to God and not to us. We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies. (2 Cor 4:6-10)

These powerful words should challenge us to relinquish our ego, abandon our perfectionism, and embrace the hope and encouragement which God offers us through His Son.

A Lesson for the Disappointed

One biblical figure who seemingly had good reason to feel discouraged was the prophet Jeremiah. For almost half a century, he faced the thankless task of urging God’s people to turn away from their sins so as to prevent the impending destruction of Jerusalem. These efforts seemingly came to nothing when Babylonian forces razed the city to the ground in 587 BC.

The story of Jeremiah’s life is so disheartening that it inspired St. John Henry Newman to compose a sermon titled “Jeremiah, a Lesson for the Disappointed.” Here the saint offers encouragement which is filled with biblical wisdom:

Give not over your attempts to serve God, though you see nothing come of them. Watch and pray, and obey your conscience, though you cannot perceive your own progress in holiness. Go on, and you cannot but go forward; believe it, though you do not see it. Do the duties of your calling, though they are distasteful to you. Educate your children carefully in the good way, though you cannot tell how far God’s grace has touched their hearts. Let your light shine before men, and praise God by a consistent life, even though others do not seem to glorify their Father on account of it, or to be benefited by your example. . . . I bid you take up the cross of Christ, that you may wear His crown. Give your hearts to Him, and you will for yourselves solve the difficulty, how Christians can be sorrowful, yet always rejoicing.

As Christians, we are called to live and toil in this world, but always in the knowledge that the final victory is assured (see Rev 17:14). Therefore we do not grow discouraged, no matter how difficult things may appear. For we know that the same God who fed 5,000 souls with five loaves and two fish can transform all our humble efforts into an abundant harvest of grace.

Further Reading

André Louf, Tuning In To Grace: The Quest for God (Liturgical Press, 1992)

Jacques Philippe, Searching for and Maintaining Peace: A Small Treatise on Peace of Heart (Alba House, 2002)

Chris Stefanick, Living Joy: 9 Rules to Help You Rediscover and Live Joy Every Day (Emmaus Road Publishing, 2020)

About Clement Harrold

Clement Harrold earned his master’s degree in theology from the University of Notre Dame in 2024, and his bachelor’s from Franciscan University of Steubenville in 2021. His writings have appeared in First Things, Church Life Journal, Crisis Magazine, and the Washington Examiner.