4 Ways to Spur On One Another to Love and Good Works

“How do I motivate myself to fall in love with God’s Word? And how to I inspire other believers to do the same?”

These are the questions that have been swirling around in my brain lately. Because I’m realizing a few things:

I don’t wake up with a passion for studying Scripture. Sure, I dutifully sit down most mornings for Bible study, and by the time I’m done, I’ve learned so much and am very grateful that I jumped in even though I didn’t wake up hungering for God’s Word. But how do I motivate myself to desire Bible study before I begin? And how do I encourage others to experience the same?

When I was talking with a friend about this very issue, she gently reminded me, “We need to spur on one another to love and good works.” (Don’t you just love how Scripture answers all of our questions like that? I do!)

So, how do we go about spurring on one another to those good works? After studying for a bit, I’ve found at least 4 ways to do just that.

4 Ways to Spur On One Another to Love and Good Works

Pray

One thing in life that we can never do is pray too much! So, while nearly all of my blog posts include praying, which may seem a bit redundant, I can’t stress enough the importance of prayer here.

Ask the Lord to give you a deeper love for the Word. Ask Him to instill that same love in other believers, too. Pray that your desires will be in alignment with His. Since the Bible says that we should love God’s Word, we know that asking Him to help us foster that love is definitely in His will!

Quote Scripture

A group of friends and I have a text thread going where we can send verses to one another as they come to mind. Whether it’s a verse that has encouraged us that we want to share or a verse that we feel would be perfect for a hallway someone else in the group is going through, sharing Bible passages with each other has been a huge encouragement to all of us.

However, I find that when it comes to Scripture memorization, I’m pretty poorly equipped. While I do lots of memory work, those verses (and especially the references!) promptly exit my brain the moment I move on to the next section I want to memorize.

But we all need to have Scripture memorized and at the ready so that we can quote it to ourselves and to others who need to hear the rich truths found in the Bible. Quoting Scripture to one another is an excellent way to spur on one another to love and good works.

Share what helped you

When I wanted to improve my housecleaning ability, I asked several women in my church about what worked for them. They were happy to share about their routines, offering tips and making suggestions. It was wonderful, and it truly helped as I made changes to how I was doing things!

While we have to be careful not to come across as a know-it-all, sometimes sharing about what helps us will help others who are in similar situations. When I want to have a hunger for God’s Word but don’t, the best thing I’ve found is to begin reading Scripture despite not having a true passion for it. It isn’t long before I’m loving what I’m reading and truly want to digest more!

Occasionally, I have the opportunity to share how reading my Bible to helps to ignite my desire to read my Bible. And often when I share about it, it helps the other person who’s struggling with the same situation.

Study together

There’s something truly special about the Body of Christ coming together for Bible study and prayer. It’s one of the amazing blessings of being a Christian! And there’s nothing else like it for spurring on one another to love and good works.

When we’re studying God’s Word together, it will naturally challenge us to grow spiritually, to overcome strongholds, and to repent from our sin. And we can hold one another accountable, too. It’s one of the best ways we can help each other foster a deeper love for the Lord.

It’s not easy to overcome our sin nature and to hunger after the things of God. But through prayer, quoting Scripture, sharing what works for us, and studying together, we can spur on one another to love and good works!