Morning Prayer: Encourage Each Other
From Morning Prayer: “Encourage each other daily while it is still today." (Hebrews 3:13)
How are we to understand this exhortation?
The Original Context
Who Said This?
“Encourage each other daily while it is still today” comes from Hebrews 3:13, a letter written to a community of early Jewish‑Christian believers sometime between 60–90 AD.
The author is unknown — traditionally attributed to Paul, but modern scholarship sees it as the work of an early Christian teacher steeped in Jewish Scripture, Greek rhetoric, and pastoral concern.
Who were the recipients?
A community under pressure:
Some were discouraged.
Some were drifting away from the faith.
Some were facing persecution or social exclusion.
Some were simply tired — spiritually, emotionally, communally.
Why this exhortation?
The writer is warning them about hardness of heart — not in the sense of being “mean,” but in the biblical sense of becoming numb, cynical, spiritually sluggish, or disconnected from one another.
“Today” echoes Psalm 95: “If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.”
The urgency is pastoral: Don’t wait. Don’t assume you have endless time. Encourage each other now, because discouragement grows quietly and quickly.
In the first century, “each other” meant:
fellow believers in the same community
people bound together by shared faith and shared vulnerability
people whose spiritual lives were intertwined
But even then, the circle was porous. Early Christian communities were known for:
caring for widows and orphans outside their group
rescuing abandoned infants
tending the sick during plagues
welcoming strangers and travelers
So “each other” was already expanding.
What Does This Mean Today? Who Is “Each Other” Now?
If we take the text seriously, the question is not “Whom must I encourage?” but “How wide is the circle of my responsibility?”
The obvious circle: family, friends, neighbors
These are the people whose discouragement we can see up close:
a relative who is overwhelmed
a friend who is quietly unraveling
a neighbor who is lonely
Encouragement here is natural, expected, and often easy.
The communal circle: our church, our workplace, our town
This includes:
people we worship with
coworkers we collaborate with
people who share our civic life
Encouragement here is a choice. It requires noticing people we don’t necessarily like or agree with.
The interfaith and intercultural circle
The early Christians lived in a pluralistic world. So do we.
Encouragement today can mean:
supporting a Muslim coworker during Ramadan
showing solidarity with a Jewish neighbor facing antisemitism
welcoming immigrants who are anxious and disoriented
affirming the dignity of people whose beliefs differ from ours
This is not dilution of faith — it is fidelity to the God who “makes the sun rise on the evil and the good.”
The difficult circle: people we dislike or distrust
This is where things get real.
Coworkers who oppose us? Bosses who mistreat us? Employees who sue us? Political opponents?
Encouragement here does not mean:
pretending harm didn’t happen
excusing injustice
allowing abuse
abandoning boundaries
Encouragement means:
refusing to dehumanize
speaking truth without cruelty
wishing good, not destruction
hoping for their healing, not their downfall
It is the difference between encouragement and enabling.
The hardest circle: people who have caused real harm
Robbers, killers, abusers, violent offenders — the people we fear.
The early Church did not romanticize enemies. They lived under Roman occupation. They knew violence.
Yet the Christian tradition insists:
every person remains capable of repentance
every person retains dignity
every person is more than their worst act
Encouragement here does not mean personal contact or unsafe vulnerability. It means:
praying for their conversion
supporting justice that is restorative, not vengeful
refusing to let hatred hollow us out
Encouragement becomes a spiritual discipline, not a social interaction.
Has the Meaning of “Each Other” Changed Over Time?
Yes and no.
What has stayed the same
The call to mutual support
The urgency (“while it is still today”)
The danger of discouragement and hardness of heart
The belief that community is essential for spiritual health
What has expanded
The early Christian “each other” was a small, fragile community. Today, our lives are woven into vast networks — workplaces, neighborhoods, online spaces, interfaith relationships, global crises.
The moral imagination of Christianity has widened:
from tribe → to community
from community → to humanity
from humanity → to creation itself
“Each other” now includes:
the stranger
the immigrant
the person of another faith
the person who votes differently
the person who hurt us (within safe boundaries)
the person we fear
the person we would rather not see
The circle keeps expanding because God’s circle keeps expanding.
So, What Does This Mean for Us, Today?
A realistic, modern reading might sound like this:
Encourage each other daily — the people you love, the people you avoid, the people you disagree with, the people you fear, the people you don’t understand, and the people you would rather not call “each other.”
Encouragement is not sentimentality. It is resistance against cynicism. It is a refusal to let the world shrink our hearts. It is a daily practice of widening the circle.
Note about Morning Prayer: Each morning prayer post reflects on one phrase from the Morning Prayer from the Liturgy of the Hours. which can be found in the iBreviary (a downloadable app), Universalis (website) or Divine Office (publication and website).
post production may be assisted by AI in image generation and content (research and wording)
Read more Morning Prayer posts.
Morning Prayer posts inspired by Being Catholic in Troubled Times (Dennis Ortman)
Book Description:
These are times that try our souls. This book is addressed to all, not just Catholics, who search for deeper meaning in tough times. Our age is marked by division and alienation. We long for some message that will bring peace to our world and our hearts.
This book suggests that the Catholic faith can provide strength in these troubled times. The word "catholic" means "all-embracing, universal." Nothing is excluded in the catholic mind. The truth that sets us free can be found everywhere, especially in unexpected places. It is often hidden in plain sight. In our darkest moments, we find new light and life. When we are most despairing, a ray of hope shines through.
Dr. Dennis Ortman, former priest and current psychologist, is the author of Anger Anonymous, Anxiety Anonymous, Depression Anonymous, Being Catholic in Troubled Times, and Life, Liberty, and COVID-19.
For more posts by and about Dennis and his award-winning books, click HERE.
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