An old acquaintance used to say, with a bit of a sanctimonious grin, “God has given me the spiritual gift of discouragement.” And while discouragement was certainly no divine gift, it was most certainly a well-established pattern. He seemed to take delight in finding ways to rain on every parade, to temper every joy, to twist the knife in every wound. And for some reason he took pride in this as if it was a skill to practice, a virtue to pursue, a gift to embrace.
The fact is, though, we have no need of any spiritual gift of discouragement for life is already plenty discouraging enough. There is no need for a humidifier in the heat of a Toronto summer when the air is already saturated with moisture. And in much the same way, there is no need for a ministry of discouragement in this world of woe, for it is already nearly fully-saturated with grief, shame, sorrow, and temptation. Discouragement is as natural to this broken world as are rising floods and spreading flames.
The sanctified instinct of the Christian heart should not be to discourage but to encourage, not to further demoralize other people
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