4 Things to Pursue When Discouraged (Rerun from April 2022)

Just because you are leader doesn’t mean you are immune to discouragement. One major indication that you have succumbed to discouragement is that you become unconcerned with your personal relationships. And if you are discouraged, do not be embarrassed or ashamed. Today, I want to encourage you that you do not have to surrender to discouragement. You have the choice and power to flip your discouragement into encouragement.Hebrews 12:14-17 “Pursue peace with all people, and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord: looking carefully lest anyone fall short of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up cause trouble, and by this many become defiled; lest there be any fornicator or profane person like Esau, who for one morsel of food sold his birthright. For you know that afterward, when he wanted to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no place for repentance, though he sought it diligently with tears.”

1. Pursue Peace: Pursue is an action word and it means to run after or pursue in order to catch. We are to pursue (go after) peace with all people. Make things right in your relationships with people within your circle. If you need to apologize and ask for forgiveness, go, and apologize and ask for forgiveness. If you need to forgive, go, and forgive.

2. Pursue Holiness: Make things right in your relationship with God. Leviticus 19:2, “Speak to all the congregation of the children of Israel, and say to them: ‘You shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy.” As David Guzik’s commentary states, “Regarding holiness, we are told without which no will see the Lord. A lack of holiness is a critical obstacle to a close relationship with God.”

3. Pursue the Grace of God: Going after God’s grace will keep bitterness from coming up in your heart. Going after God’s grace will keep bitterness from spreading. Bitterness can come from holding on to pain and hurt of your past. When you focus on the grace of God, you can move past the pain and hurt and extend that grace God gives to you to others.

4. Pursue Pure Moral Behavior: Matthew 5:8, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.” I love how The Message Bible reads, “Watch out for the Esau syndrome: trading away God’s lifelong gift in order to satisfy a short-term appetite. You well know how Esau later regretted that impulsive act and wanted God’s blessing—but by then it was too late, tears or no tears.”