A gift of the Spirit

The Gift of Exhortation

The gifts of Romans 12 · Romans 12:8

The gift of exhortation, or encouragement, is a Spirit given ability to come alongside people with God's truth and stir them to keep going, to take heart, to press on in faith and obedience. Paul names it in Romans 12, and it strengthens the whole body, for the common good, in a world that wears the soul down.

Or he that exhorteth, on exhortation: he that giveth, let him do it with simplicity; he that ruleth, with diligence; he that sheweth mercy, with cheerfulness.Romans 12:8 (KJV)

What the gift is

Paul writes, he that exhorteth, on exhortation. The word he uses is rich; it means to call alongside, to comfort, to urge, to encourage. It is the same family of words Jesus used for the Holy Spirit as the Comforter, the one called alongside to help. The gift of exhortation, then, is a Spirit given ability to come near to people with God's own encouragement, lifting the downcast, urging on the weary, and spurring one another to love and good works.

It is not empty cheerfulness or flattery. Christian exhortation is anchored in truth; it encourages by reminding people of who God is and what He has promised, and it urges them toward faith and obedience. The writer of Hebrews commands, exhort one another daily, lest any be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin, showing that encouragement guards the soul as much as it warms it.

How it appears in the New Testament

The New Testament shines with this gift, and no one more than Barnabas, whose very name means son of consolation, or son of encouragement. He vouched for the newly converted Paul when the church was afraid of him, went to Antioch and exhorted them all that with purpose of heart they would cleave unto the Lord, and gave the failed young Mark a second chance. Wherever Barnabas went, people were strengthened.

Paul urges the churches again and again to comfort one another and edify one another, and to comfort the feebleminded and support the weak. Judas and Silas, being prophets, exhorted the brethren with many words and confirmed them. The letters of the New Testament are themselves full of exhortation, calling the church to stand fast, take courage, and hold on to Christ.

How it builds up the body of Christ

Discouragement is one of the great dangers to faith, and this gift meets it head on. The encourager keeps people in the race, comes alongside the one about to give up, and reminds the whole body that God is faithful. Where this gift is at work, the fainthearted are strengthened, the wandering are gently called back, and the church presses on together toward Christ.

Because it is anchored in truth, real exhortation sometimes urges as well as comforts, calling believers up to obedience and away from sin. But it always builds up; it never tears down. Its aim is not to make people feel good about themselves but to help them keep trusting and following the Lord.

How to recognize and use it

Those with this gift instinctively draw near to the struggling, know how to say the steadying word, and leave people stronger than they found them. If that is you, give yourself to it: seek out the discouraged, speak God's promises into their fear, and spur your brothers and sisters toward love and good works. Root every word in Scripture, so your encouragement carries the weight of God's own truth and not merely your kindness.

And exhort one another daily, as Hebrews commands, for this gift is also a calling shared by the whole church. In an age heavy with discouragement, the ministry of a true encourager, pointing always to Christ, is a mercy beyond price.

How this gift points to Christ

The Comforter who inspires this gift is the Spirit of Christ, and the encouragement it brings is finally the encouragement of Jesus Himself, who said, in the world ye shall have tribulation, but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world. Every steadying word roots the weary in Him, in His finished work and His unbreakable promises, so that they take heart not in themselves but in their Lord. So the encourager does what Barnabas did, urging the church with purpose of heart to cleave unto the Lord. The gift lifts the downcast eye not to a cheerful thought but to the face of the risen Christ, who is with us always.

The more excellent way

Whatever place the gift of Exhortation holds, Paul sets one thing above every gift. Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, he says, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal; and though I have all knowledge, and all faith, and have not charity, I am nothing. The gifts will one day pass away, but now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; and the greatest of these is charity.

So this gift, like all the rest, is given by one Spirit for the common good, to build up the one body of Christ, and it is nothing at all apart from love. The gifts are not for our standing but for our serving, and they all belong to Him whose body the church is. Use whatever you have been given to love one another, and to point every eye to Jesus, from whom every good gift comes and to whom every gift returns its praise.

The Giver calls you

Every gift of the Spirit comes from the risen Christ and points back to Him. The same Lord who pours out gifts on His church calls you by name to know Him, to be filled with His Spirit, and to take your place in His body. Read the Word, pray, and gather with the family of God on The Living Bread. Free, with no ads, for all people.

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Questions people ask

What is the gift of exhortation?

It is a Spirit given ability to come alongside people with God's truth and encourage them to take heart and press on in faith and obedience. Paul names it in Romans 12:8. The word means to call alongside, the same root used of the Holy Spirit as the Comforter.

Is exhortation just positive thinking?

No. Christian exhortation is anchored in truth. It encourages by reminding people of who God is and what He has promised, and it urges them toward faith and obedience. It can comfort and it can gently call up, but it always builds up rather than flatters.

Who is an example of this gift in the Bible?

Barnabas, whose name means son of encouragement. He defended the new convert Paul, strengthened the church at Antioch, and gave the failed young Mark a second chance. Wherever he went, people were built up and drawn closer to the Lord.