Mercy is meant to be given away cheerfully; a perfect fit if you look at the Greek definition of the word eleos, ???kindness to the afflicted.??? Joyfully sharing God???s mercy is the Holy Spirit???s mission for our lives.
The topic of giving is so often abused that your heart may have grown resistant to the Holy Spirit???s pure gift of giving, which is a blessing, either physical or spiritual ??? given by God to you ??? to share with another in need.
The Greek words translated encouragement, parakole and paraklesis also mean ask, beg and plead. We???ll explore how resurrecting your prayer life will bring God???s comfort to your heart, in part 2 of this lesson.
The words used to describe the gift of encouragement can???t be adequately translated to English because they have a circular definition, where the act of asking is the same as receiving encouraging and comfort.