our daily bread

[Dexu Xia]

To My Dear Friend

The elder, to my dear friend Gaius, whom I love in the truth. 3 John 1

What the apostle John did for his friend Gaius in the first century is a dying art in the twenty-first century. John wrote him a letter.

One writer for the New York Times, Catherine Field, said, “Letter-writing is among our most ancient of arts. Think of letters and the mind falls on Paul of Tarsus,” for example. And we can add the apostle John.

In his letter to Gaius, John included hopes for good health of body and soul, an encouraging word about Gaius’s faithfulness, and a note about his love for the church. John also spoke of a problem in the church, which he promised to address individually later. And he wrote of the value of doing good things for God’s glory. All in all, it was an encouraging and challenging letter to his friend.

Digital communication may mean letter-writing on paper is fading away, but this shouldn’t stop us from encouraging others. Paul wrote letters of encouragement on parchment; we can encourage others in a variety of ways. The key is not the way we encourage others, but that we take a moment to let others know we care for them in Jesus’s name!

Think of the encouragement Gaius experienced when he opened John’s letter. Could we similarly shine God’s love on our friends with a thoughtful note or an uplifting call?

Lord, help us know how to encourage others who need a spiritual boost from us.

Encouraging words bring hope to the human spirit.

致我好友

作长老的，写信给亲爱的该犹，就是我诚心所爱的。-约翰三书1章1节

在第一世纪时，使徒约翰写了一封信给他的朋友该犹，而“写信”在现今21世纪，已经是一项垂死的艺术了。

《纽约时报》的一位撰稿人曾写道：“写信是人类古老的艺术。说到写信，我们就会想到使徒保罗。”其实，使徒约翰也是一个很好的例子。

在约翰写给该犹的信中，他写下了对该犹身心灵都健壮的期盼、对该犹忠心服事的鼓励话语，并描述该犹对教会的爱。约翰也提到教会的问题，并允诺之后会和该犹商讨如何处理。此外，约翰还写到为上帝的荣耀行善是宝贵的。总之，那是一封给该犹鼓励和挑战的书信。

电子通讯的发达可能意味着纸本书信将逐渐消逝，但我们却不能因此就不鼓励别人。保罗用羊皮纸写下鼓励同工的书信，我们现今则可以用多种方式让人得激励。重点并不在于我们以什么方式来关怀别人，而是我们愿意付出时间，让别人知道我们是因耶稣的名而付出关怀！

试想当该犹打开这封约翰写来的书信时，他会得到多么大的鼓励。我们是否也能向人表达关心，藉着纸笔或电话让我们的朋友感受到上帝的爱呢？

主啊，有些人在信仰旅程中需要我们的扶持，
求祢帮助我们知道如何激励他们。

鼓励的话语能带给人盼望。